write a speech of book

Table of Contents

Choosing Your Topic

Writing your speech, how to turn your book into a speech (complete guide).

Turning your book into a speech can be one of the best ways to get your message out there.

With the recent expansion of virtual conferences, TEDx venues , and streaming video, now’s the perfect time to turn your book into spoken content—whether for a single presentation or a video series.

But where do you start? How can you turn your book into a speech that’s really good ?

This post will tell you everything you need to know about how to turn your book into an engaging speech that will hook an audience, hold their attention, and get them talking.

1. Who’s your audience?

The first key to a great speech is choosing the right topic. And finding the right thing to talk about starts with your audience.

Who are you writing the speech for? Who are you presenting it to?

If you’re presenting your speech to a specific group of people, they might make up just one section of your target audience. Or they might be your perfect target audience —but they might be attending this particular event for a specific reason.

Think about who they are and why they’re there.

2. Where are you giving the speech?

If you’re giving a speech at an association event or at a conference, think about the purpose behind the gathering.

What’s the theme of the event or the purpose behind the association? Make sure your speech fits the reason behind why the audience is gathering.

The event, as well as the environment in which the speech will be given, should also dictate the kind of speech you write and how deeply you involve the audience.

You always want your speech to be engaging, but in some virtual speech environments, you might not be able to see or hear your audience.

Make sure you think about the venue when deciding whether or not to include audience participation, as well as in planning the overall tone of your speech.

Whether your speech is thought-provoking and profound or high-energy and rousing should depend on both your audience and the event.

3. What has resonated with your audience?

Once you’re clear on your audience and venue, think about the parts of your book that tend to resonate the most with people.

The more people read your book, the more you’ll get a feel for the pieces that struck the most memorable chords.

People will comment on a specific anecdote from the book, or they’ll talk about how a certain idea opened up a new world for them.

Pay attention to any patterns that start to appear in those comments. Is there one story everyone seems to remember? Or one core idea that changed their perspective?

Take your book’s most compelling ideas and develop specific content around them that targets your speech’s audience and event.

4. Is there something big in popular culture or current events that relates?

People love timely content. They always enjoy hearing about things that relate to other things they’re caught up in.

What shows are popular right now? What time of year is it? What’s happening in the world? The more you can make your speech relate to current events or trending topics, the more people will tune in.

For example, when Game of Thrones was at its height, Will Leach wrote a series of posts on how you can use the HBO blockbuster show to understand mindstate marketing.

Not only were the posts a huge hit, they got Will an invitation to give a speech on the same topic at Merck.

5. How are you providing value?

Finally, what problem are you solving for your audience?

This relates back to your book’s positioning and why you wrote your book in the first place.

Remember, the goal isn’t just to get people to like your speech. It’s to get them to tell other people about it. To use those new ideas often enough that you stay front of mind.

So hook your audience with something spicy, like a popular TV show or a jarring premise. Then draw them in deeper by providing value. That’s the winning combination that gets people talking.

1. Hook them from the start

Okay, so how do you hook an audience?

One way is to use a popular show, like the Game of Thrones example. But there are a million ways to grab people’s attention. For example, you can:

• Ask a fun question
• Ask a thought-provoking question
• Make a surprising statement
• Offer a counter-intuitive fact

Whatever direction you pick, the key is to make it surprising and unusual―and put that surprising and unusual fact or statement right in the title .

Here’s another example:

• “What working with psychopaths taught me about leadership”

Nashater Deu Solheim’s fascinating (and well-titled) TEDx speech already has over 400,000 views on YouTube.

Instead of using current events, Nashater developed an “evergreen” speech that draws people in with the perfect combination of the surprising and unusual.

It’s unusual because very few people work with psychopaths. It’s surprising because the last thing you’d expect that work to lead to is insight into leadership.

2. Make it personal

Even if you don’t have anything quite that unusual in your background, everyone has the potential for surprise and uniqueness. How? By speaking candidly about their own lives—especially when it comes to things people don’t usually talk about.

The more candid and authentic you’re willing to be, the more your message will draw people in and resonate with those who need it.

You can choose a profoundly authentic moment or anecdote from your book. Or you can choose a different anecdote from your own life and relate it to your book’s main concepts.

Remember, you don’t have to literally turn your book into a speech. As long as your speech is grounded in the main ideas of your book and illustrates the same concepts, you can use just about anything as the hook to engage your audience.

3. Write for the time you have

If your speech needs to last a significant amount of time, you might want to go through your book’s table of contents and use it as the general outline of your speech.

Go through each main idea and distill it into a quick few minutes, presenting it within the context of your theme’s hook.

Don’t feel like you have to use every single idea. If some fit better than others, focus on those. But you can use your table of contents to organize your speech’s structure.

If your time is limited, one quick idea from your book might be better. Tell one or two stories that illustrate your concept, and make sure you provide value to your audience by leaving them with a key takeaway they can use in their own lives.

Whatever you do, don’t lose sight of your audience. Whether you’re giving a long speech or a short one, focus on what’s relevant to this specific audience.

4. Read your speech out loud

Once your speech is drafted, read it out loud. If you’re going to be on video, record yourself giving the speech. Try to use the same frame you’ll use for the real speech.

For example, if you’re giving a TEDx talk on a stage, your recording should capture your whole body (because some TEDx frames will be that wide). If you’ll be in a Zoom conference, record yourself in a private Zoom meeting using the camera angle you expect to use.

Watch your recording, and check for:

• A good pace and tone
• Confident body language
• Eliminating negative habits (smacking your lips, saying um, etc.)

Do it again and again until you feel like you could do it in your sleep—and until you’re comfortable enough to look and sound like you’re talking to a friend.

When you see great speakers who sound casual and “off-the-cuff,” understand that they worked very hard to sound that way in front of an audience. So don’t skip the hard work.

Stage presence isn’t entirely natural for anyone. It’s a learned skill. But if you record yourself over and over, giving yourself notes each time and doing it again, your final presentation will look as though it was no effort at all.

The Scribe Crew

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How to Write a Speech Your Audience Remembers

by Sue Weems | 0 comments

I’ve had some additional duties this year that have required me to add speech writing to my list of skills. I didn’t realize how much it would improve my writing in general. Even if you run in fear from public speaking (you’re in good company—95% of adults say it’s their number one fear), try these techniques for how to write a speech and see if speech writing helps your writing too!

I’ve received a couple big awards at work lately, and as a result, I’ve been called to speak at events. For an introvert like me, public speaking doesn’t come naturally. I’d much rather type out my words and publish them for an audience to read.

But writing a speech is great practice regardless of whether or not you’ll ever deliver it, because it forces you to think about audience, story, and message in a compressed format. Here’s what I’ve been practicing in my own speeches.

When I’m writing fiction, I tend to think about one ideal reader. In speechwriting, I’ve had to broaden how I think about audience.

Who will be there? What problems are they facing? What questions do they have? And most importantly, how can I speak effectively into those problems or questions with my message?

Knowing your audience is as important as knowing your readers. Your audience and readers have expectations. You make a promise by stepping to that podium that you will connect with them, even if it is only for a few minutes.

We’ve all sat through a boring or ineffective talk, lecture, or speech. What went wrong? It usually has to do with the connection of the message with the audience. If I don’t find it relevant, I’m going to have a hard time paying attention.

If you don’t know your audience, you’ll struggle to make that connection.

I attended a rally this week where we stood for several hours as people made speeches. There were probably ten speakers, and most were very good. They were clear and spoke into the concerns of the audience.

But two days later, I can only remember the specifics of two. You know what they had in common? Both told a story.

Our brains are hard-wired for story. A story is simply a person who wants something and has to overcome obstacles to get it; it’s transformation after struggle. A story uses clear imagery that stays with the audience long after the event.

Think about Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, with the line, “America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds,'” or where he offers the image of children holding hands as the dream. His storytelling and imagery perfectly aligned with his message. It still resonates today.

If you’re writing a speech, find or write a story that illustrates your point and build your message from it. Get specific and use imagery that will stick in the audience's mind.

In fiction, the message is the theme. Sometimes it is explicitly stated, but often theme is implied. In a speech, the message has to be clear, succinct, and unambiguous, especially if it is to be memorable.

This can be the most challenging part of public speaking. It’s easy to say a lot of words. It’s hard to revise and limit yourself to speaking only what is needed.

I recently attended a training where we wrote out our message on paper. They gave us five or six minutes and I easily had a page.

Then, we had to work with a partner. Each of us read our message and then our partner condensed what we’d said into a sentence. Suddenly, I realized which parts of my message were off.

By the end of the exercise, we each had our message down to six words—enough for a quick elevator pitch that grabbed someone’s attention.

As I reflected on the training, I realized it was the writing process in action. First draft, feedback, revision, feedback, more cutting, feedback, and polishing until crystal clear.

Strengthen Your Communication

I can’t end without sharing Nancy Duarte’s fascinating talk on the shared structure of great speeches. She studied the structure of famous speeches like Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and Steve Jobs’s speech when he introduced the iPhone and found they used similar structures. Well worth a listen.

Whether you have a speech to write for yourself or for a character in your book, I hope you’ll practice these strategies and find they strengthen your writing like they have mine.

What are your best tips for speech writing? Share in the comments .

Your character is given an award and asked to make a speech in front of a crowd. What's the award, and what does your character say? Keeping the tips above in mind, write your character's speech.

Take fifteen minutes to write. When you're done, share your writing in the comments , and be sure to leave feedback for your fellow writers!

Sue Weems is a writer, teacher, and traveler with an advanced degree in (mostly fictional) revenge. When she’s not rationalizing her love for parentheses (and dramatic asides), she follows a sailor around the globe with their four children, two dogs, and an impossibly tall stack of books to read. You can read more of her writing tips on her website .

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How to write a speech for a book launch

Is a speech given at a book launch different than other kinds of speeches?

Yes … and no.

Like with all speeches, you need to consider the purpose of your presentation and the action you want your audience to take, as well as who your audience is.

The one thing that can set a presentation that launches a book apart from other speeches is that it might simply be a sample reading from the book.

I go into more detail about how to write a speech for a book launch in this answer to the question, “How do I write a speech for a book launch?” on Quora.

Can you do me a favor? If you liked my answer on Quora, would you upvote it? This would really help me out.

Basic Considerations for a Book Launch Speech

• Is there a purpose to your book launch beyond selling copies of your book? What does your speech need to include in order to encourage that action?
• What kind of book are you launching? Your book’s topic, genre, and category affects the kinds of presentations that would be most appropriate.
• What kinds of people will this book and book launch event attract? Your speech needs to speak to them where they are and lead them on a journey to where you want them to be. Knowing who they are will help you craft the right message in the right way.
• What kind of speech will be most appropriate? There are three common types of speeches authors give at book launches: A sample reading from the book, a workshop based on the book’s content, or a background story about the book and the author. Choose wisely based on your answers to the above questions.

Once you have your answers to these questions, it is a simple matter of developing the speech itself. These previous posts can help you organize and structure a strong presentation.

• Is there a formula for a great talk? [Video] by Davide DiGiorgio
• How to Structure a Presentation [Video] by Patricia Fripp
• Structuring Your Presentation: Your Roadmap to a Successful Speech [Post]
• The Power of Organization [Post]

Did you like this post? Please share!

About the author

Carma Spence, is author of Public Speaking Super Powers. She is fiercely committed to guiding women to Owning their Superpowers and turning their knowledge and interests into a profitable business. She is masterful at helping her clients see what is possible for them and supporting them on the journey from where they are to where they want to be, releasing the Mind Goblins of self-doubt, self-sabotage and second-guessing that keep them stuck.

With 20+ years experience in marketing communications and public relations, natural intuitive skills and certification in using some of the most effective transformational coaching tools available, Carma’s mission and commitment is to unleash the inner power every woman entrepreneur possesses so they can boldly go out into the world, transforming the fabric of people’s lives in meaningful and positive ways.

You can find her on Facebook , Twitter , Google+ and LinkedIn . Her website is CarmaSpence.com .

Preparing Your Book Launch Speech: Examples, Tips, And What You Should Say!

Are you an author who is preparing to launch your new book? If so, you may be wondering what you should say during your book launch speech. How long should it be? What are the key points that you need to cover?

In this article, we will provide examples of what you can say at your book launch, as well as tips on how to deliver a successful speech.

By following these tips and using our examples, you can create a powerful and memorable book launch speech that will help introduce your new book to the world!

Let's get started!

What Do You Say at A Book Launch?

How do you introduce a book launch, how long should a book launch speech be, book launch speech example, how to make your book launch speech stand out: 4 tips, what not to say in your book launch speech....

Some things you may want to cover at your book launch include:

• expression of your gratitude
• your inspiration for writing the book
• the process of writing it
• what the book is about
• who it's for,
• and why they should read it.

You might also talk about any interesting tidbits you uncovered while researching or writing the book . If you have any author friends or colleagues who would be willing to join you on stage for a panel discussion or Q&A session, that could be a lot of fun too.

The Writing Process, and Any Challenges You Faced While Writing

Did you almost give up and quit? Did the book take you 10 years to finally compile and complete? Were there issues with getting it published?

Your audience will be interested in knowing about the challenges you faced while writing your book . Be sure to share any behind-the-scenes details that may add intrigue or generate empathy.

There is no set formula for what you should say at a book launch , but covering these topics will give you a good starting point.

It is always a good idea to start by expressing your gratitude to the people who have come to support you and who have helped make the book possible (if any). You can thank your family, friends, and anyone else who has helped you along the way.

Next, you will want to give a brief overview of your inspiration for writing the book. What made you want to write it? Was there a specific event or experience that inspired you?

These things should be said before you get into the nitty-gritty of the book itself.

Once you have given some background, you can start to talk about the book itself. Give a brief summary of what it is about and why you think people will enjoy reading it.

If you have any special connections to the book, such as personal experiences that informed your writing, it would be nice if you have summarised this as a story that you can tell the audience.

I don't need to tell you this, but storytelling is so powerful. It is also very underutilized in speeches and connecting with people. So, use this superpower that you have!

You can end your speech by once again expressing your gratitude to everyone who has come out and showing excitement for the book launch party . Thank everyone for their time and let them know how much you appreciate their support.

A book launch speech should be around 10-15 minutes long. This gives you enough time to cover the key points without boring your audience.

If you have a panel discussion or Q&A session scheduled after your speech, you may want to keep it on the shorter side so that there is still time for those activities.

Check out these introduction examples and see if you notice any key themes:

Thank you all for coming! I’m really excited to be here tonight. I want to start by thanking my publisher and everyone who helped make this book possible. It’s been a long journey, and I couldn’t have done it without all of your support!

Thank you all for coming! This is a very special day for me. I want to start by thanking my friends and family who have supported me throughout this process. Your encouragement has meant the world to me. Next, I want to talk about the book itself. I wrote this book because I believe that everyone has a story to tell, and I wanted to share mine with the world.

I would like to thank you all for joining me today to celebrate the launch of my new book! This book has been a labor of love, and I am so excited to finally share it with all of you.

1. Make it personal. Talk about how the book came to be and what it means to you.

2. Make it funny. A little humor goes a long way in making your speech memorable.

3. Make it inspiring. Share why you wrote the book and what you hope readers will take away from it.

4. Make it interesting. Share some behind-the-scenes stories or interesting facts about the book itself.

When it comes to book launch speeches, there are a few things you should definitely avoid saying.

• First, resist the urge to apologize for the book. Whether it's your debut novel or your hundredth non-fiction work, your book is worthy of celebration.
• Second, while a little back story is good, don't spend too much time talking about yourself. Your audience is there to hear about your book.
• Third, don't get too technical. Stick to the basics and save the details for later.
• Finally, avoid using comparing your book to other works. This will only serve to remind your audience of all the other great books out there.

About The Author

Arielle Phoenix

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Speech on Books for Students and Children

Speech on books.

Hello and a warm welcome to all my teachers and dear friends present in the Auditorium. I am here to deliver a speech on books. I would like to start my speech with a famous phrase of Ernest Hemingway which says, ” There is no friend as loyal as a book”. Books are like our fellow friend with no demands and complaints. They improve our knowledge, wisdom, and information, thus helping us in taking the right decisions in life.

Source: pixabay.com

Books are the best option for self-learners to avail of information on all issues and topics. Great Authors, writers, and poets put all their emotions, thoughts and experience to make books important and beneficial for us. The treasure of books is inexhaustible, as they continuously extract the gold of art, literature, science, and philosophy for us. Books pass the knowledge from generation to generation which ultimately helps in the advancement of civilizations.

Types of Books

There are mainly two types of books, one is fictional while other is non-fictional. Fictional books are completely based on the author’s imagination, on the other hand, non-fictional are about a particular person, story, News or information. The different age group of people prefers different types of books like religious, comical, fantasy and educational.

The corporate world generally prefers business magazines and journals. Books under subcategory educational and guides, horoscope and scientific, articles and essays and many more. Generally, popularity in books depends on the age group and the mindset of people. Students prefer educational and professional books, kids mostly prefer stories and fantasy books, while the mature ones prefer the literature and novelistic books.

Get the Huge list of 100+ Speech Topics here

Advantages of Reading Books

The habit of reading good books enables us to become well educated and informed. Books also help to change our physical and mental fitness in addition to building our lifestyle. Reading a book gives us kind of pleasure, energy, and confidence which we cannot find around any other place.

We feel fresh, happy and knowledgeable after reading a good book. When we feel down and negativity starts affecting us, books prove to be our best guide, inspiration and moral supporter. In the long run, we are not alone in the company of a good book.

The kingdom of books is vast providing pleasant pastime for many of us. Books spread our positive views and also popularize the fruits of our research and knowledge. Books are our permanent friends as they help enrich our thoughts. They inspire us to fight the odds and do great things in life.

In the current scenario of the advancement of science and technology, the utility of books is getting down. People are depending much on the Internet and social media platforms to gain knowledge. We must understand that Google gives us knowledge but books us wisdom.

We should never stop reading, while reading we always get something new that is valuable and informative in our future. Books take us to a journey with the author which widens our outlook. Books our minds with noble thoughts and awaken our soul.

Although books are very useful we must be very cautious while choosing one. Some books can mislead and spoil our life. A person reading a good book with a positive mindset is ultimately an asset to society and the country as well.

Our country is a land of great personalities whose biographies are available to us through books. We must step out and read them for the advancement of the country and its civilization. I will conclude my speech with a famous phrase of Fran Lebowitz which says “Think before you speak. Read before you think”

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How to Dictate a Book in 2022

Authors… step away from the keyboards. It’s time to meet your newest writing companion: the microphone.

Sure, the pen used to be mightier than the sword. But we all know that’s been (predominantly) replaced by the keyboard in recent decades. Now, there’s an even newer tool in town. The rise of next-generation technology as a 2022 publishing industry trend has caused dictation to emerge as the latest method for writing books.

What is book dictation?

Simply put, book dictation turns talk into text. By using tools like a microphone or computer application, authors can write more quickly and easily than ever before.

Whether you’re writing a book for the first time or are a seasoned indie author, learning how to dictate a book can save you time and energy. As we know, the indie publishing game is filled with enough challenges – so finding any way to make this process easier is a big win for writers.

What authors utilize book dictation?

If we haven’t convinced you of the power of dictation quite yet, just know that choosing this method puts you in good company. Dictation has been one of the best-kept secrets of popular authors for centuries. Some of the biggest names out there – Winston Churchill, John Milton, Agatha Christie, and even Voltaire – did it. 

Thankfully, technology has grown more sophisticated since the times of Voltaire. As we’ll cover in our section on the latest in dictation software , it’s easier than ever to choose this process for writing or brainstorming your next book.

How to Dictate a Book: The Pros and Cons

Are you now asking yourself how to dictate a book, and what it takes to get started? If so, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the pros and cons before you do.

How to Dictate a Book: The Pros

It’s been proven that there are numerous benefits to writing a book by dictation. We’re about to break down the main points for you, but ultimately book dictation is worth considering if you are looking for some much-needed simplicity in the book writing process.

Save time in what is already a long, arduous process

Indie publishing isn’t just about writing. You also have to build email lists , create promo stacks , and embrace the very latest social media trends in the industry. If there’s a way to save time as an indie publisher, we’re totally on board with chasing it! While dictation requires some effort and initial learning, it can be well worth the effort.

Create room for some of your more spontaneous ideas

Is there anything a writer dreads more than the glaring emptiness of a blank Word document? This can be the antithesis of a motivational writing environment. One alternative method? Skip the screen and use dictation instead. While some authors use dictation to write their book once it’s been fully fleshed out, others use it as early as the brainstorming stage to let spontaneous ideas emerge. You can use a digital voice recorder to let those creative ideas begin to roll.

Kiss hunching over a keyboard goodbye — and save your back!

There’s a reason authors seek out at-desk exercises to keep their mind and body equally strong… Typing is physically grueling. If you frequently use a keyboard, you’re probably familiar with the back pain and even carpal tunnel that can come with it. Book dictation is less likely to create these ailments since it involves gentler physical activity. 

Dictate anywhere, at any time

Something we love about dictation is that it can be done anywhere. If you’re out on a walk, you can use a phone app to record yourself talking. The same is true for sitting at a desk, riding in the car, or even grocery shopping! Dictation helps make the writing process a bit more mobile than other mediums (like the keyboard). 

How to Dictate a Book: The Cons

Punctuation can get… messy.

Unfortunately, there’s no writing method that doesn’t come without setbacks. If you’re wondering how to dictate a book, you may be asking yourself how punctuation comes into play in the process. Luckily, dictation software has figured out a way around this. As you speak, you can utilize particular voice commands to denote punctuation. This won’t come naturally at first, though, since this is not how we speak in our day-to-day lives. Some people go back and punctuate after they’re done dictating a section of writing.

There’s a learning curve with varying slope

As is to be expected from any software, there’s a learning curve. Some people may adjust more easily and naturally than others to the various dictation tools out there. As we mentioned, though, we feel the effort that goes into learning these tools is well worth the ease that dictation can provide. There are also countless Youtube tutorials for helping you learn how to dictate a book.

Unusual character or location names? This can make dictation tricky

If George R. R. Martin had dictated Game of Thrones, some software may have struggled with knowing how to immediately spell names like Daenerys and Cersei. Of course, more expensive solutions on the market (like Dragon Professional Individual ) have ways to resolve this and can teach in-app AI how to spell these words going forward. This may not be a problem for everyone but is worth noting for some Sci Fi or Fantasy authors.

The Best Dictation Software for Authors

If you’re interested in getting started with how to dictate a book in 2022, you’re going to first need a fully equipped tool belt. We recommend stocking your tool belt with some of the highest-recommended dictation software programs. While some of these tools come with a hefty price tag, others are completely free – and likely already on your computer.

Keep in mind that there are two methods for how to dictate a book: speaking in real-time, or recording and then transcribing at a later date. This list includes dictation software that does either/or.

With a bevy of productivity solutions, Nuance’s Dragon software makes AI speech recognition accessible for any person. For the self-published author, Dragon Anywhere Mobile helps you with how to dictate a book from your own phone. It comes with a one-week free trial, and can then be purchased for $15/month. Not only can you dictate within the app, but you can edit your documents using your voice. Since this option has a free trial period, you can try it out and see if the app works best for you.

Working with a more… flexible… budget? For $500, you can purchase Dragon Professional Individual for your computer. Dragon Professional Individual is commonly listed as the cream of the crop of dictation software.

Speechpad takes the dictation software model and makes it even easier. How does it work?

• Create an audio or video recording of your book.
• Submit it to the real people on Speechpad’s team.
• Get your full transcription back in as little as 24 hours for $1.00/minute. Or get it back in 12 hours for just $1.25 a minute!

Speechpad takes a majority of the dictation work out of your hands. All you have to do is record yourself reading your book. The cost associated with Speechpad means it’s likely worth doing with the final version of your book.

Google Docs

Proving that dictation can be both easy and free, Google Docs includes this option for users working out of a Chrome browser. If you have Chrome set up already, open a Google Doc and go to “Tools” in the top toolbar. From there, find the “Voice typing” option and select it. There’s also the “command+shift+S“ keyboard shortcut to do this. This was so easy, our team typed this entire section using Google Doc’s typing tool.

Speechtexter

If you’re looking for a free dictation option that’s not strictly for Google Docs/Chrome users, Speechtexter might be for you. You speak directly into the doc and then watch as your words appear on the screen. Speechtexter even has a helpful guide to punctuation commands on the right-hand side of the page. We personally tested this tool out and found it to be just as helpful as the dictation offering within Google Docs. 

Going with a paid option, like Dragon or Speechpad, may be more efficient if your book is written and in its final draft. Google Docs and Speechtexter, though, are more than sufficient if you’re brainstorming or in the early days of writing.

Apple Dictation

Turn on keyboard dictation from your Mac to dictate anywhere on your computer. You can even set up a custom shortcut to begin dictating with the click of a few buttons. This is built into your Mac and is an easy, free option for trying dictation out yourself.

Windows Speech Recognition

Similar to Apple Dictation, Windows Speech Recognition is the answer for Windows computers and is available on Windows 10 and 11. Looking at reviews online, this is a free and easily accessible tool attractive to anyone who doesn’t want to break the bank with their dictation.

What You Need to Dictate a Book

Once you’ve selected the dictation software that’s best for you, you’ll still need to get a few other ducks in a row. Before you begin dictating your book, make sure that you have:

Completed notes, or the transcript of your book, if you are transcribing a fully finished product.

A fully charged computer or phone – it’d be a shame to have these die on you mid-dictation , a microphone, if one is necessary or even helpful for the software you’re using., a recording device. these are great if you’ll be transcribing your recording yourself, or if you’re using a tool like speechpad., how to dictate a book: final steps.

After you’re finished with dictating, you’ll then need to edit. When you’re learning how to dictate a book, remember that this method isn’t foolproof. There will likely be typos or mistakes on the page. More sophisticated dictation software will learn as you continue to use it, though, and AI will get better and better. This will eventually make your job as an editor easier.

If you’re interested in making your writing process easier and faster in 2022, learning to dictate may be a worthwhile effort. It’s never been easier – or cheaper – to do just that. Getting started with some of the free tools listed in this article can help you get your feet wet with dictation. 

Have you dictated a book, or used dictation at any stage of your writing process? If so, let us know in the comments below!

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17 comments on “ how to dictate a book in 2022 ”.

I have been using Rev, and Temi for years with great success.

Dictanote is almost as good as Dragon. Highly recommend it as it’s free. With all voice dictation software, you’re gonna have to use a monotone way of speaking for improved accuracy.

Thanks for your insight Matthew. So many great tips in the comments here.

Many indie books today are dictated or read that way. Messy, disjointed, repetitive, no context. When you can’t see what you’ve written, go back to check or search you easily lose you place because you don’t know where you’v been and therefore won’t know where you’re going. Dictating is a mess and to be avoided I believe for fiction writers.

I experienced this problem firsthand when I started using dictation software back in 2015. The solution comes with practice and a willingness to self-edit your work. It took me several hundred articles (I am a copywriter) to get myself to the point where I can dictate in as natural a manner as when I type, but it was worth it. My speed has increased three-fold, the error rate is down considerably, and my carpal tunnel hasn’t flared up even once. The trick is to know what you are writing before you write it. Outline, prepare sources and quotes, and stick to it!

I recently discovered on my new google pixel phone a thing called Google Recorder. This is an mp3 recorder with a difference. As you speak, it records. It also transcribes into text, *very* accurately. It then uploads the audio and transcript to your Google account at recorder.google.com from where you can download both. No more Dragon or any of the others needed.

Great tip David!

I’m planning on writing my book but as an a descriptive artist I can’t type fast enough and loose my “flow” of my narrative so I’m looking for a way to record my stories and then be able to read and edit later

This takes me back to the early days of newspaper reporting where we’d make a few quick notes while on a story, find a public phone box, ask the operator for ‘Copy’ and then read the story over. The copy takers were usually men, they could spell, (certainly better than me) and we had basic instructions. eg Stop, par, single quote, double quote, close quote …. I have recently found this works perfectly dictating onto my MacBook and more recently onto the iPhone 13. Again, both of these can spell!😂

So your brain is already trained for this. I find it so hard to get into that mode! I’ve found the built-in Apple dictation is better than Dragon, but I’m just not wired to write out loud like that, on the fly. Any tips?

Either way, thanks for the cool story. You’ve definitely seen a lot of changes in how we write!

I was forced to use dictation when I developed RSI in my fingers. Along with my writing, I ghost write averaging about 90k words per month. I’d been resistant to dictation because it felt awkward, but at that point I had no choice. Starting from day one, I produced twice as many words in the same amount of time and since then have averaged 3500 to 4000 words per hour.

I use Dragon to digitally record, usually when I’m on a walk, and have the software transcribe the audio. I don’t like talking into my computer, but when I do, I use Dragon with Notepad to avoid issues between Dragon and Word, or us MS’s built in voice recognition with the new version of Word, which is pretty good.

Dictation is definitely different from typing, but once you figure it out, it’s fast, and once you edit what you’ve dictated, it comes out about the same as if it was initially typed. The trick is knowing what you want to “write”, overcoming the awkwardness, and enunciation.

All this is Greek right now, but think you have the right of it.

Hi Jenna, could you clarify a point? If using an Apple iPhone, what is the program I speak into, and will it transcribe into a format a publisher can use- like word or scrivener? I’m new to this. Many thanks! Janet

It would certainly help to exercise my voice! Lockdown has been dreadful for my vocal chords, even though I’ve got through a lot of typing. Next time… dictate!

I haven’t found anything good on my phone. I think and speak in discrete chunks and then the software stops listening.

I am dictating this on my iPhone in my notes app.

There’s been some discussion as to which dictation program is best for a fiction writer. I am a fiction writer and I use my phone and my laptop with an external screen. I’m running windows 10. I didn’t buy any extra apps or programs to do the dictation.

“I am a indie writer and I do all of my books on dictation through dictation.” As you can see I left the error that I made. That way I don’t have to stop in the middle of my dictation and edit my manuscript. I made the air and then I immediately said the correct words. When I read this back I’ll know exactly what I need to do. I will go back and delete the extra word and type in the word ‘error’ to correct that.

“I can simply say the words for the punctuation marks I need ie: ?,!,:,;,,,. and the app will put in the punctuation that I desire.

When I want to do dialogue it’s as simple as saying the words ‘begin quote’ “ and quotation mark appears. It’s like magic. At the end of the dialogue I simply say ‘end quote’ “ and there it is.

If I want to go to the next paragraph I simply say ‘next paragraph’ and pop we’re on the next line. It’s quite fun actually.

So far I haven’t been able to figure out how to do a section break so I do those manually. But I taught myself how to do all of this.

One caveat here… (I just said dot dot dot – and ellipses appeared) and the app puts it in. When I leave voicemails for my loved ones these days, at times I accidentally verbally punctuate them and then I say Love Lyn at the end. Oh well my families always thought I was nuts and now I’m just proving them right. LOL

I don’t know where I’d be without the ability to dictate everything that I write. I’m a writer who has arthritis and a lot of pain from Lupus and various other crap. Lots of back issues. Dictating, as has been said in the article, can help alleviate some of that and be done anywhere—when I’m making supper, when I’m resting in bed, when I’m watching TV, when I’m painting, when I’m grocery shopping, you get the picture I’m sure.

I use Grammarly to help me with editing.

Hope this helps.

Warmly, Lyn

I’m just starting out. Thank y’all for all of this information.

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Home / Book Writing / How to Dictate a Book: A Comprehensive Guide for Authors

How to Dictate a Book: A Comprehensive Guide for Authors

It's easier than you think to dictate a book with the help of software like Dragon Professional Individual . If you are an author who has been struggling with how to write your next bestseller, this is for you!

By dictating your book, you can produce a more polished manuscript that will be ready for publication sooner.

This article will walk through how to prepare before beginning dictation and how each stage differs when compared to typing by hand or using another word processor. It'll also discuss how the editing process is different when dictating as opposed to writing.

And by the way, this article was written via dictation.

• What dictation is
• Why you should dictate a book
• Excuses for not dictating
• How to dictate your book
• How to edit your work after dictating

Table of contents

• What is Dictation?
• 1. Health Reasons
• 2. Writing Speed
• 3. Lowered Barrier of Entry
• 4. Decreased Critical Voice

Excuse #1: “I tried and it didn't work for me”

Excuse #2: “saying the punctuation is so awkward”, excuse #3: “i write fantasy with weird names, so dictation doesn't work”, excuse #4: “i write in public so dictation doesn't work well for me”, excuse #5: “dictation is too technical”.

• 1. Voice to Text Software
• 2. Record and Transcribe with Dragon
• 3. Record and Transcribe with a Transcriptionist
• Step 1: Select Your Software
• Step 2: Select a Recording Device and/or Microphone

Step 3: “Train” Dragon Dictation

• Step 4: Get Into a Habit and Don't Stop
• 1. Edit when Training Your Dragon
• 2. Measure the Time it Takes to Edit
• 3. Expect Extra Editing
• 4. Use ProWritingAid or Transcriptionist to Help
• The Bottom Line: Is Dictation Worth It?

Dictation is putting words on the page using your voice. It can be done with speech-to-text software like Dragon Professional Individual or other free tools that are not quite as accurate but still work well for blog posts, book chapters and other short text documents.

Dictation software makes writing easier because it frees you from your keyboard and allows you to focus on the story that's in your head.

Once you've written the first draft of your book or blog post using speech recognition, creating a more polished version is faster than ever before.

Why Choose to Dictate?

There are a number of reasons why you might choose to dictate instead of typing or writing by hand. I found that most authors begin using voice recognition for one of the following reasons:

If you suffer from carpal tunnel, arthritis, or any other physical ailment that makes typing difficult for your hands and wrists, dictating is the solution.

Dictation also helps with repetitive stress injuries (RSI) because it reduces how much time you spend using a keyboard. This will allow the muscles in your arms, shoulders and hands to heal.

I haven't had any of these health concerns, but I know people that do, and earlier in my writing career I really set out to avoid them. I got ergonomic keyboards and tried to get up and stretch my limbs every half hour.

These things will help, of course, but I might've saved myself some time and money by just getting a dictation software earlier, and really doubling down on that strategy.

Regardless, if you suffer from any of these health concerns, speech recognition can make your life easier. You don't have to stop writing just because you got carpal tunnel.

For some, writing speed is the most attractive aspect of dictating a book.

I think we all like the idea of churning out a book a month, a blog post a day, or any other ambitious writing goal. And when you truly try to research what is possible, dictation always comes up as a strong solution.

And guess what? Evidence does suggest that dictation does improve your speed. It does sometimes take some training, but so does anything else worth doing.

One of the most attractive aspects that I found when I began dictating was that it lowered my barrier of entry.

Often I would sit down at my desk to write, and it would just feel like this enormous task. This made it harder to get into writing, because I knew that in a couple of hours my wrists would be sore, I would be tired, and at most I would have a couple thousand words.

With dictation I can just start talking which is a lot easier than typing. I don't even need to look at my computer most of the time. I can just stare out the window and open my mouth, so it is much easier to get started.

I know for myself, when I type out a book, I'm constantly judging what I'm writing.

We all have that inner critic, the little voice that says we're no good, the source of our imposter syndrome.

While there is more to solving this problem than just dictating, I found that by dictating, that part of my mind goes dormant, and I’m largely able to get over writer's block. I spend less time looking at my words, and more time just thinking through the story, speaking my words out loud, and this prevents my brain from dwelling too long on the critical voice.

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Why People Don't Dictate

There are many excuses why people don't dictate their books. And let me first start off by saying that some of these may be legitimate for you. I can't tell you that dictation is the way to go for everyone, because that would simply not be true.

Nevertheless, I think many of these comments are true excuses, and if you pushed past them you would be surprised at the positive results. So let's take a look at a few of these:

My first reaction to this excuse is, “did you really give it a try?”

There's a difference between trying for an hour or two, or trying for weeks. If you haven't yet tried to write a full book, troubleshooting your problems with much of the free and paid online training out there, then I don't think you really gave it a try.

It may be that dictation is not right for you, but you will really know until you truly give it a run for its money.

Okay, so this is true. Saying punctuation out loud is awkward.

But you know what is also awkward. Typing. But we don't think too much about it because it's a skill that most of us learn in adolescence. By the time most of us get to adulthood, we're used to typing.

The same is true of speech recognition. I've actually found that it does not take long for the punctuation to come naturally as I speak.

This may be a legitimate obstacle, if you are using the wrong software. Thankfully software like Dragon Professional Individual is built to handle things like this. All you have to do is train it to recognize certain words, specifically how you speak them, and you should have little trouble in the future.

There's a good chance that if you are dictating in public, people will start to look at you weird. But these days, it's common to see someone talking on the phone using a Bluetooth device.

If I had to guess, I say most people just assume that you're talking to someone on the phone. It's certainly something that is less taboo than it used to be.

It's true, dictation is technical. But thankfully, most of that technicality is on the backend. Once you get set up and working, there is very little that you will need to do. All you need to do is speak, and the words will flow. Even advanced software like Dragon Professional Individual, only requires a minimal amount of technical knowledge.

As someone who loves dictation, I recommend that everyone at least give it a try. Give it a solid chance, and by that I mean write the equivalent of at least one book.

By the time you get to the end of that book, there is a good chance that you will be comfortable enough with dictation that you will not want to look back.

The Different Ways to Dictate

In this post, when I talk about dictation, I am usually talking about a voice to text program. But there are actually several ways of dictating a book. In this section we'll go over a few of those:

The most common form of dictation is using a voice to text software. There are free versions and paid versions, and I recommend my post going over the top dictation software here .

If you're willing to pay, for most people I recommend Dragon Professional Individual , because it offers the most enhanced dictation, the most accurate engine, multiple languages, and will save you the most time in the editing process .

But if you’re looking for a free voice recognition software, you can find them with basic Windows/Mac operating systems, Microsoft Word, and Google Docs.

If you're using Dragon Professional Individual (this is not an available feature with Dragon Home ), then you can record your voice typing separately as an audio file, then plug it into Dragon for transcription.

I recommend this method if you want to go out hiking, or want to dictate anywhere away from your computer.

The third method of dictation involves recording the audio file with a dedicated voice recorder, then sending it to someone who can transcribe it for you.

There are plenty of places where you can find a transcriptionist, but they will all cost money. My recommendation would be to find someone on Upwork or Fiverr, though I've heard good things about rev.com as an accurate transcription service.

The downside to any of these services is that it will cost money. The upside is that the accuracy is likely to be far higher, and you don't have to worry about saying punctuation out loud. If you have the money, this can be an attractive option. Authors like Kevin J. Anderson are among those who dictate in this way.

That said, prices can add up, and the price of Dragon Professional Individual would easily be cheaper than transcribing a couple of novels through a service.

How to Dictate a Book

Alright, now that I've got your attention, let's talk about how to actually dictate the book in four simple steps.

Your software is going to be your biggest friend. Choose the wrong software, and you will be editing for far longer than you should. Choose the right software, and not only will your transcription be cleaner, but it will get better over time as it learns from your voice.

As I mentioned above, I recommend Dragon Professional Individual for those who can afford it. But there are other options as well, and I recommend checking out my post on that.

Your microphone or recording device can be just as important as your software. A bad microphone will lead to poor quality audio, which means that your transcription will probably not be as clean.

There are a multitude of microphone options available, and I recommend looking at this post for some of the best.

Part of your decision should be based on where you plan to dictate. If you plan to dictate at your computer, the microphone you need will be slightly different than if you plan to walk around the neighborhood. Keep this in consideration.

Other tools do this as well, but I'm going to use Dragon as my specific example.

The AI in Dragon digital is an adaptive AI. It learns from you as you go.

When you are just starting out with dictation, it's a good idea to spend some time specifically training your software. This means watching what it dictates, and instead of manually fixing any mistakes you see, use the software to select those mistakes and correct them.

Doing so will let the software know what you really meant, and it's less likely to make that same mistake in the future.

You also have the option of adding new vocabulary to Dragon. This is useful if you have unusual names or words. All you do is spell out the word you want to train, then say it into your microphone. Dragon will take care of the rest.

The key to dictation is practice.

Just as typing was a little awkward when we first started learning how to do it, dictation also takes time to master.

But like typing or riding a bike, it soon becomes second nature, and the words just start to fly out of our mouths.

I started dictating not too long ago, and I can already see an improvement after having written approximately 20,000 words with the software. Not only have I improved in speed, but the software has improved in accuracy.

Just as you would cultivate any writing habit, schedule time for yourself to dictate, and make sure you meet that commitment.

Over time, you will be amazed with the results.

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The Editing Process

Lastly, let's talk about the editing process. Editing is often more essential after dictating, because a lot of grammatical mistakes and spelling errors usually make their way into your manuscript.

So what can you do to improve your editing process? Let's take a look at a few options:

While I don't recommend editing as you go for most cases, it can be useful when you're just starting out using Dragon. The reason for this is that it will learn as you edit your mistakes.

However, this isn’t necessary all of the time, and perhaps you can limit it to just a few minutes of dictation every session for just the first few sessions.

The rest of the time, I recommend waiting to edit until after you've finished your writing.

If you discover that dictation is causing too many errors, it might actually not be worth it for you (although you may also have a problem with your microphone or setup, so check that first).

A good way to measure this is to time yourself when editing. If the time that you save in writing is outweighed by the extra time you spend in editing, then you're still spending the same amount of time working on your novel.

With the right software program, this can be avoided, but it's good to check how long it takes to edit if you find yourself editing too much.

Don't let a little extra editing scare you. With dictation software, this is normal.

Don't give up, allow your software's AI to improve, and stick with it until you know for sure how much extra editing it gives you.

If you have a hard time catching all of your mistakes, a good resource is ProWritingAid , which can greatly help you catch all of the errors.

If you find yourself making too many errors, or the amount of editing you do is too high, consider hiring a proofreader who is willing to forgive many mistakes, or hire a transcriptionist to do the transcription for you.

Both options will result in cleaner manuscripts.

I started dictating because I knew I was going to write this article. By the time I wrote this article I had written over a dozen other articles using dictation software.

I then became so excited to share this article with you, because dictation has really improved my writing process. And my experience with the software is still relatively small.

However, I know enough to recommend it to anyone who wants to increase their speed, word count, or want to increase the time they have in the day.

If you found dictation to work for you, I recommend sharing this article with a friend.

Jason Hamilton

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

• Excuse #1: "I tried and it didn't work for me"
• Excuse #2: "Saying the punctuation is so awkward"
• Excuse #3: "I write fantasy with weird names, so dictation doesn't work"
• Excuse #4: "I write in public so dictation doesn't work well for me"
• Excuse #5: "Dictation is too technical"
• Step 3: "Train" Dragon Dictation

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Newly updated for today's technology, this "how-to classic" ( The Washington Post ) offers sound advice and tips on every aspect of researching, writing, and delivering an effective speech. This guide offers sound advice on every aspect of writing and giving an effective speech. Filled with fresh examples and practical tips, this accessible book shows how to improve both the content and delivery of any presentation. Learn how to: - Assess an audience - Research your subject - Give team presentations - Speak to international audiences - Use humor - Create a memorable style - Handle copyright issues - Use PowerPoint and other audio-visuals - Handle Q&A sessions - Control nervousness Updated with brand new sections, How to Write and Give a Speech will help both novices and experts speak with clarity, confidence, and clout.

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• Speech Writing /

1-Minute Speech on Books for Students

• Updated on  
• Nov 25, 2023

Book is a dream that you hold in your hand, Neil Gaiman. There are only two ways of learning, one from books and the other from personal experience. Books are considered our silent friends, from where we can learn immense knowledge, from our evolution to the future. Books teach us how to grow in life, deal with people, and become the best version of ourselves. Reading a book or some pages is not just about learning something new. It’s about how our scope of mind can be changed so that we can think out of the box. Here is a speech on books for students and some other elements to add to the speech.

Table of Contents

• 1 1-Minute Speech
• 2 10 Lines on Books to Impress Your Classmates
• 3 Best Quotes to Add in Speech on Books

Also Read: 160+ Best and Easy English Speech Topics for Students

1-Minute Speech

Also Read: Speech On The Best Day of My Life

10 Lines on Books to Impress Your Classmates

Here are 10 lines on books to impress your classmates. Feel free to use these lines in your speech on books.

• ‘Books are like printed knowledge and lead to the greatest path towards success.’
• ‘Books are our best friends as they always teach us about life and how to deal with them.’
• ‘Fictional books offer an escape route from the real world, where we can experience the adventures of a different dimension.’
• Books teach us how to stay disciplined in life and the steps required to lead a positive mindset.’
• ‘Books improve our overall intelligence and literature; reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.’
• ‘Books are considered as one of the best sources of entertainment.’
• ‘Books help us to overcome loneliness and stress.’
• ‘Books teach us how to deal with hard times.’
• ‘Books enlighten us with better ideas and information.’
• ‘Books tell us about the harsh realities of life.’

Also Read: Speech on Social Media Bane or Boon

Best Quotes to Add in Speech on Books

Here are some popular quotes on books. You can add these quotes to your speech on books to improve your writing and impress your teachers and classmates.

• ‘A room without books is like a body without a soul.’ – Marcus Tullius Cicero
• ‘Books are a uniquely portable magic.’ – Stephen King
• ‘The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.’ – Dr. Seuss
• ‘Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination and the journey. They are home.’ – Anna Quindlen
• ‘I cannot live without books.’ – Thomas Jefferson
• ‘There is no friend as loyal as a book.’ – Ernest Hemingway

Ans: Books are considered as our silent friends as they teach us the realities of life. They teach us how to grow in life, deal with people, and become the best version of ourselves. Reading a book or some pages is not just about learning something new. It’s about how our scope of mind can be changed so that we can think out of the box.

Ans: Books are our fundamental source of knowledge and education. They help stimulate our minds, encourage critical thinking, and contribute to intellectual growth. Books can fuel imagination and creativity. Books are the best source of inspiration to lead a successful life. Books serve as an important source to preserve our rich history and culture.

Ans: Here are some popular and important books for students: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The 5 AM Club, The Alchemist, Tuesdays with Morrie, and The Power of Habit.

Related Articles

For more information on such interesting speech topics for your school, visit our speech writing page and follow Leverage Edu .

Shiva Tyagi

With an experience of over a year, I've developed a passion for writing blogs on wide range of topics. I am mostly inspired from topics related to social and environmental fields, where you come up with a positive outcome.

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How to write a speech that your audience remembers

Whether in a work meeting or at an investor panel, you might give a speech at some point. And no matter how excited you are about the opportunity, the experience can be nerve-wracking . 

But feeling butterflies doesn’t mean you can’t give a great speech. With the proper preparation and a clear outline, apprehensive public speakers and natural wordsmiths alike can write and present a compelling message. Here’s how to write a good speech you’ll be proud to deliver.

What is good speech writing?

Good speech writing is the art of crafting words and ideas into a compelling, coherent, and memorable message that resonates with the audience. Here are some key elements of great speech writing:

• It begins with clearly understanding the speech's purpose and the audience it seeks to engage. 
• A well-written speech clearly conveys its central message, ensuring that the audience understands and retains the key points. 
• It is structured thoughtfully, with a captivating opening, a well-organized body, and a conclusion that reinforces the main message. 
• Good speech writing embraces the power of engaging content, weaving in stories, examples, and relatable anecdotes to connect with the audience on both intellectual and emotional levels. 

Ultimately, it is the combination of these elements, along with the authenticity and delivery of the speaker , that transforms words on a page into a powerful and impactful spoken narrative.

What makes a good speech?

A great speech includes several key qualities, but three fundamental elements make a speech truly effective:

Clarity and purpose

Remembering the audience, cohesive structure.

While other important factors make a speech a home run, these three elements are essential for writing an effective speech.

The main elements of a good speech

The main elements of a speech typically include:

• Introduction: The introduction sets the stage for your speech and grabs the audience's attention. It should include a hook or attention-grabbing opening, introduce the topic, and provide an overview of what will be covered.
• Opening/captivating statement: This is a strong statement that immediately engages the audience and creates curiosity about the speech topics.
• Thesis statement/central idea: The thesis statement or central idea is a concise statement that summarizes the main point or argument of your speech. It serves as a roadmap for the audience to understand what your speech is about.
• Body: The body of the speech is where you elaborate on your main points or arguments. Each point is typically supported by evidence, examples, statistics, or anecdotes. The body should be organized logically and coherently, with smooth transitions between the main points.
• Supporting evidence: This includes facts, data, research findings, expert opinions, or personal stories that support and strengthen your main points. Well-chosen and credible evidence enhances the persuasive power of your speech.
• Transitions: Transitions are phrases or statements that connect different parts of your speech, guiding the audience from one idea to the next. Effective transitions signal the shifts in topics or ideas and help maintain a smooth flow throughout the speech.
• Counterarguments and rebuttals (if applicable): If your speech involves addressing opposing viewpoints or counterarguments, you should acknowledge and address them. Presenting counterarguments makes your speech more persuasive and demonstrates critical thinking.
• Conclusion: The conclusion is the final part of your speech and should bring your message to a satisfying close. Summarize your main points, restate your thesis statement, and leave the audience with a memorable closing thought or call to action.
• Closing statement: This is the final statement that leaves a lasting impression and reinforces the main message of your speech. It can be a call to action, a thought-provoking question, a powerful quote, or a memorable anecdote.
• Delivery and presentation: How you deliver your speech is also an essential element to consider. Pay attention to your tone, body language, eye contact , voice modulation, and timing. Practice and rehearse your speech, and try using the 7-38-55 rule to ensure confident and effective delivery.

While the order and emphasis of these elements may vary depending on the type of speech and audience, these elements provide a framework for organizing and delivering a successful speech.

How to structure a good speech

You know what message you want to transmit, who you’re delivering it to, and even how you want to say it. But you need to know how to start, develop, and close a speech before writing it. 

Think of a speech like an essay. It should have an introduction, conclusion, and body sections in between. This places ideas in a logical order that the audience can better understand and follow them. Learning how to make a speech with an outline gives your storytelling the scaffolding it needs to get its point across.

Here’s a general speech structure to guide your writing process:

• Explanation 1
• Explanation 2
• Explanation 3

How to write a compelling speech opener

Some research shows that engaged audiences pay attention for only 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Other estimates are even lower, citing that people stop listening intently in fewer than 10 minutes . If you make a good first impression at the beginning of your speech, you have a better chance of interesting your audience through the middle when attention spans fade. 

Implementing the INTRO model can help grab and keep your audience’s attention as soon as you start speaking. This acronym stands for interest, need, timing, roadmap, and objectives, and it represents the key points you should hit in an opening. 

Here’s what to include for each of these points: 

• Interest : Introduce yourself or your topic concisely and speak with confidence . Write a compelling opening statement using relevant data or an anecdote that the audience can relate to.
• Needs : The audience is listening to you because they have something to learn. If you’re pitching a new app idea to a panel of investors, those potential partners want to discover more about your product and what they can earn from it. Read the room and gently remind them of the purpose of your speech. 
• Timing : When appropriate, let your audience know how long you’ll speak. This lets listeners set expectations and keep tabs on their own attention span. If a weary audience member knows you’ll talk for 40 minutes, they can better manage their energy as that time goes on. 
• Routemap : Give a brief overview of the three main points you’ll cover in your speech. If an audience member’s attention starts to drop off and they miss a few sentences, they can more easily get their bearings if they know the general outline of the presentation.
• Objectives : Tell the audience what you hope to achieve, encouraging them to listen to the end for the payout. 

Writing the middle of a speech

The body of your speech is the most information-dense section. Facts, visual aids, PowerPoints — all this information meets an audience with a waning attention span. Sticking to the speech structure gives your message focus and keeps you from going off track, making everything you say as useful as possible.

Limit the middle of your speech to three points, and support them with no more than three explanations. Following this model organizes your thoughts and prevents you from offering more information than the audience can retain. 

Using this section of the speech to make your presentation interactive can add interest and engage your audience. Try including a video or demonstration to break the monotony. A quick poll or survey also keeps the audience on their toes. 

Wrapping the speech up

To you, restating your points at the end can feel repetitive and dull. You’ve practiced countless times and heard it all before. But repetition aids memory and learning , helping your audience retain what you’ve told them. Use your speech’s conclusion to summarize the main points with a few short sentences.

Try to end on a memorable note, like posing a motivational quote or a thoughtful question the audience can contemplate once they leave. In proposal or pitch-style speeches, consider landing on a call to action (CTA) that invites your audience to take the next step.

How to write a good speech

If public speaking gives you the jitters, you’re not alone. Roughly 80% of the population feels nervous before giving a speech, and another 10% percent experiences intense anxiety and sometimes even panic. 

The fear of failure can cause procrastination and can cause you to put off your speechwriting process until the last minute. Finding the right words takes time and preparation, and if you’re already feeling nervous, starting from a blank page might seem even harder.

But putting in the effort despite your stress is worth it. Presenting a speech you worked hard on fosters authenticity and connects you to the subject matter, which can help your audience understand your points better. Human connection is all about honesty and vulnerability, and if you want to connect to the people you’re speaking to, they should see that in you.

1. Identify your objectives and target audience

Before diving into the writing process, find healthy coping strategies to help you stop worrying . Then you can define your speech’s purpose, think about your target audience, and start identifying your objectives. Here are some questions to ask yourself and ground your thinking : 

• What purpose do I want my speech to achieve? 
• What would it mean to me if I achieved the speech’s purpose?
• What audience am I writing for? 
• What do I know about my audience? 
• What values do I want to transmit? 
• If the audience remembers one take-home message, what should it be? 
• What do I want my audience to feel, think, or do after I finish speaking? 
• What parts of my message could be confusing and require further explanation?

2. Know your audience

Understanding your audience is crucial for tailoring your speech effectively. Consider the demographics of your audience, their interests, and their expectations. For instance, if you're addressing a group of healthcare professionals, you'll want to use medical terminology and data that resonate with them. Conversely, if your audience is a group of young students, you'd adjust your content to be more relatable to their experiences and interests. 

3. Choose a clear message

Your message should be the central idea that you want your audience to take away from your speech. Let's say you're giving a speech on climate change. Your clear message might be something like, "Individual actions can make a significant impact on mitigating climate change." Throughout your speech, all your points and examples should support this central message, reinforcing it for your audience.

4. Structure your speech

Organizing your speech properly keeps your audience engaged and helps them follow your ideas. The introduction should grab your audience's attention and introduce the topic. For example, if you're discussing space exploration, you could start with a fascinating fact about a recent space mission. In the body, you'd present your main points logically, such as the history of space exploration, its scientific significance, and future prospects. Finally, in the conclusion, you'd summarize your key points and reiterate the importance of space exploration in advancing human knowledge.

5. Use engaging content for clarity

Engaging content includes stories, anecdotes, statistics, and examples that illustrate your main points. For instance, if you're giving a speech about the importance of reading, you might share a personal story about how a particular book changed your perspective. You could also include statistics on the benefits of reading, such as improved cognitive abilities and empathy.

6. Maintain clarity and simplicity

It's essential to communicate your ideas clearly. Avoid using overly technical jargon or complex language that might confuse your audience. For example, if you're discussing a medical breakthrough with a non-medical audience, explain complex terms in simple, understandable language.

7. Practice and rehearse

Practice is key to delivering a great speech. Rehearse multiple times to refine your delivery, timing, and tone. Consider using a mirror or recording yourself to observe your body language and gestures. For instance, if you're giving a motivational speech, practice your gestures and expressions to convey enthusiasm and confidence.

8. Consider nonverbal communication

Your body language, tone of voice, and gestures should align with your message . If you're delivering a speech on leadership, maintain strong eye contact to convey authority and connection with your audience. A steady pace and varied tone can also enhance your speech's impact.

9. Engage your audience

Engaging your audience keeps them interested and attentive. Encourage interaction by asking thought-provoking questions or sharing relatable anecdotes. If you're giving a speech on teamwork, ask the audience to recall a time when teamwork led to a successful outcome, fostering engagement and connection.

10. Prepare for Q&A

Anticipate potential questions or objections your audience might have and prepare concise, well-informed responses. If you're delivering a speech on a controversial topic, such as healthcare reform, be ready to address common concerns, like the impact on healthcare costs or access to services, during the Q&A session.

By following these steps and incorporating examples that align with your specific speech topic and purpose, you can craft and deliver a compelling and impactful speech that resonates with your audience.

Tools for writing a great speech

There are several helpful tools available for speechwriting, both technological and communication-related. Here are a few examples:

• Word processing software: Tools like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or other word processors provide a user-friendly environment for writing and editing speeches. They offer features like spell-checking, grammar correction, formatting options, and easy revision tracking.
• Presentation software: Software such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides is useful when creating visual aids to accompany your speech. These tools allow you to create engaging slideshows with text, images, charts, and videos to enhance your presentation.
• Speechwriting Templates: Online platforms or software offer pre-designed templates specifically for speechwriting. These templates provide guidance on structuring your speech and may include prompts for different sections like introductions, main points, and conclusions.
• Rhetorical devices and figures of speech: Rhetorical tools such as metaphors, similes, alliteration, and parallelism can add impact and persuasion to your speech. Resources like books, websites, or academic papers detailing various rhetorical devices can help you incorporate them effectively.
• Speechwriting apps: Mobile apps designed specifically for speechwriting can be helpful in organizing your thoughts, creating outlines, and composing a speech. These apps often provide features like voice recording, note-taking, and virtual prompts to keep you on track.
• Grammar and style checkers: Online tools or plugins like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor help improve the clarity and readability of your speech by checking for grammar, spelling, and style errors. They provide suggestions for sentence structure, word choice, and overall tone.
• Thesaurus and dictionary: Online or offline resources such as thesauruses and dictionaries help expand your vocabulary and find alternative words or phrases to express your ideas more effectively. They can also clarify meanings or provide context for unfamiliar terms.
• Online speechwriting communities: Joining online forums or communities focused on speechwriting can be beneficial for getting feedback, sharing ideas, and learning from experienced speechwriters. It's an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and improve your public speaking skills through collaboration.

Remember, while these tools can assist in the speechwriting process, it's essential to use them thoughtfully and adapt them to your specific needs and style. The most important aspect of speechwriting remains the creativity, authenticity, and connection with your audience that you bring to your speech.

5 tips for writing a speech

Behind every great speech is an excellent idea and a speaker who refined it. But a successful speech is about more than the initial words on the page, and there are a few more things you can do to help it land.

Here are five more tips for writing and practicing your speech:

1. Structure first, write second

If you start the writing process before organizing your thoughts, you may have to re-order, cut, and scrap the sentences you worked hard on. Save yourself some time by using a speech structure, like the one above, to order your talking points first. This can also help you identify unclear points or moments that disrupt your flow.

2. Do your homework

Data strengthens your argument with a scientific edge. Research your topic with an eye for attention-grabbing statistics, or look for findings you can use to support each point. If you’re pitching a product or service, pull information from company metrics that demonstrate past or potential successes. 

Audience members will likely have questions, so learn all talking points inside and out. If you tell investors that your product will provide 12% returns, for example, come prepared with projections that support that statement.

3. Sound like yourself

Memorable speakers have distinct voices. Think of Martin Luther King Jr’s urgent, inspiring timbre or Oprah’s empathetic, personal tone . Establish your voice — one that aligns with your personality and values — and stick with it. If you’re a motivational speaker, keep your tone upbeat to inspire your audience . If you’re the CEO of a startup, try sounding assured but approachable. 

4. Practice

As you practice a speech, you become more confident , gain a better handle on the material, and learn the outline so well that unexpected questions are less likely to trip you up. Practice in front of a colleague or friend for honest feedback about what you could change, and speak in front of the mirror to tweak your nonverbal communication and body language .

5. Remember to breathe

When you’re stressed, you breathe more rapidly . It can be challenging to talk normally when you can’t regulate your breath. Before your presentation, try some mindful breathing exercises so that when the day comes, you already have strategies that will calm you down and remain present . This can also help you control your voice and avoid speaking too quickly.

How to ghostwrite a great speech for someone else

Ghostwriting a speech requires a unique set of skills, as you're essentially writing a piece that will be delivered by someone else. Here are some tips on how to effectively ghostwrite a speech:

• Understand the speaker's voice and style : Begin by thoroughly understanding the speaker's personality, speaking style, and preferences. This includes their tone, humor, and any personal anecdotes they may want to include.
• Interview the speaker : Have a detailed conversation with the speaker to gather information about their speech's purpose, target audience, key messages, and any specific points they want to emphasize. Ask for personal stories or examples they may want to include.
• Research thoroughly : Research the topic to ensure you have a strong foundation of knowledge. This helps you craft a well-informed and credible speech.
• Create an outline : Develop a clear outline that includes the introduction, main points, supporting evidence, and a conclusion. Share this outline with the speaker for their input and approval.
• Write in the speaker's voice : While crafting the speech, maintain the speaker's voice and style. Use language and phrasing that feel natural to them. If they have a particular way of expressing ideas, incorporate that into the speech.
• Craft a captivating opening : Begin the speech with a compelling opening that grabs the audience's attention. This could be a relevant quote, an interesting fact, a personal anecdote, or a thought-provoking question.
• Organize content logically : Ensure the speech flows logically, with each point building on the previous one. Use transitions to guide the audience from one idea to the next smoothly.
• Incorporate engaging stories and examples : Include anecdotes, stories, and real-life examples that illustrate key points and make the speech relatable and memorable.
• Edit and revise : Edit the speech carefully for clarity, grammar, and coherence. Ensure the speech is the right length and aligns with the speaker's time constraints.
• Seek feedback : Share drafts of the speech with the speaker for their feedback and revisions. They may have specific changes or additions they'd like to make.
• Practice delivery : If possible, work with the speaker on their delivery. Practice the speech together, allowing the speaker to become familiar with the content and your writing style.
• Maintain confidentiality : As a ghostwriter, it's essential to respect the confidentiality and anonymity of the work. Do not disclose that you wrote the speech unless you have the speaker's permission to do so.
• Be flexible : Be open to making changes and revisions as per the speaker's preferences. Your goal is to make them look good and effectively convey their message.
• Meet deadlines : Stick to agreed-upon deadlines for drafts and revisions. Punctuality and reliability are essential in ghostwriting.
• Provide support : Support the speaker during their preparation and rehearsal process. This can include helping with cue cards, speech notes, or any other materials they need.

Remember that successful ghostwriting is about capturing the essence of the speaker while delivering a well-structured and engaging speech. Collaboration, communication, and adaptability are key to achieving this.

Give your best speech yet

Learn how to make a speech that’ll hold an audience’s attention by structuring your thoughts and practicing frequently. Put the effort into writing and preparing your content, and aim to improve your breathing, eye contact , and body language as you practice. The more you work on your speech, the more confident you’ll become.

The energy you invest in writing an effective speech will help your audience remember and connect to every concept. Remember: some life-changing philosophies have come from good speeches, so give your words a chance to resonate with others. You might even change their thinking.

Boost your speech skills

Enhance your public speaking with personalized coaching tailored to your needs

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

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The Key Difference Between Speeches and Books (& How to Plan for It)

Many of Clear Sight’s clients are both speakers and authors—not surprising, considering what speaking and writing have in common. Both benefit from strong storytelling, precise language, good construction, and unexpected imagery. There is a creative synergy as well as business synergy .

However, there is one key difference between writing a book and giving a speech: while a speaker can interact with the audience, a book must stand on its own. There is no real-time interaction for author and reader.

Challenges for the book author

This lack of real-time interaction leads to several challenges in book planning and development.

Engaging the audience

Speaking has a clear advantage with audience engagement. In addition to having a compelling message, you can have slides, play music, draw pictures on an overhead, ask the audience to shout out answers to questions, or call someone up on stage.

With a book, reader engagement really comes down to good writing. You can sometimes engage readers with reflection questions or “homework assignments,” but those approaches are unlikely to save dull writing.

Reading the audience

As a speaker, you usually have a chance to read the audience—what jokes they laugh at, what stories touch them, where they seem confused. You can adapt: if the audience seems bored, you can pick up the pace or insert a turn-to-your-neighbor activity; if they seem confused you can stop for questions.

Not so with a book. Once your book is out, it’s out. Readers bring their own experiences and interpretations to the reading experience. You don’t get to watch and change the words on the page as they read them.

Answering questions

When you present the latest in corn hybrids or the newest social media marketing approach, someone in the audience is sure to want clarification. Speakers get to take questions.

A book can’t. Your written words must make sense on their own. You don’t get to sit next to readers and explain what you really meant.

Determining the right pace and length

When you give a speech, you have an allotted time. Since you’re a good speaker, you know to how to adjust to end on time. If time is tight, you can pick up the pace or omit details; if you have more time than anticipated, you can add another story.

On the other hand, you have to choose one book length. Too long and readers skim or quit—or they never start because they’re intimidated! Too short and readers are left unfulfilled, or even feeling cheated.

Iterating and refining

If you’re a professional speaker, you have core speeches you give on a regular basis. Each time you give a signature speech, you have a chance to practice, assess, and refine it.

With a book, once it’s published, it’s published. Readers read the same book each time (at least until the next edition).

3 tools to address the challenges

All those things speakers can do as a result of direct audience interaction? Authors must do them on the front end (i.e., pre-publication). Three tools will help you hit the mark.

Audience analysis

Before you begin writing, analyze your audience. There’s a difference in writing to a C-Suite audience vs. a mid-management audience.

Consider your audience’s time available for reading, their interest in reading, when they read, what they read, what challenges they’re dealing with, how they go about solving problems, and so on.

A thorough analysis leads to better decisions about book content, length , structure, and formatting to match your brand promise as well as the readers’ needs. Audience analysis helps you write to engage your readers and helps predict what questions they will have.

A good editor

As you write, you’ll use your audience analysis to shape your content, but even the best writers leave gaps, phrase sentences awkwardly, or lack clarity.

A good editor sees the text through the readers’ eyes. She helps ensure a consistent and engaging voice and clear, concrete language to avoid questions and confusion whenever possible.

Beta readers

Beta readers are people you ask to read an early draft of your book. The book is close to done, but—this is important—you are still open to improving something significant about the book.

Beta readers usually include readers from your target audience and people knowledgeable about your topic, as well as people who know something about writing. Beta readers help you validate that your book matches your audience analysis. They help identify areas that need clarification. They ask the questions that you forgot to answer.

As you write and revise early drafts of your manuscript, you are of course iterating, but the beta reader stage is where authors get to iterate with real audience feedback .

Fly! Be free!

If you use these three tools, you will be in a much stronger position to publish your book. You will know you can let it go into the world without you by its side.

Need help reading your audience? I’m an excellent medium… Give me a call and I’ll get out my crystal ball and red pen.

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How to Write & Give a Speech: A Practical Guide for Anyone Who Has to Make Every Word Count (Revised, Expanded) Paperback – 4 Mar. 2014

• Assessing your audience
• Researching your subject--and deciding what to leave out
• Keeping it simple
• Using imagery, quotations, repetition, and humor
• Special-occasion speeches
• Speaking to international audiences
• Using Power Point and other visual aids
• And many more

Updated to include new examples and the latest technology, as well as a section on social media, this is a must-have for anyone who writes and delivers speeches, whether novices or experienced veterans at the podium.

• ISBN-10 1250041074
• ISBN-13 978-1250041074
• Edition Revised, Expanded
• Publication date 4 Mar. 2014
• Language English
• Dimensions 14.17 x 1.69 x 20.93 cm
• Print length 240 pages
• See all details

Product description

"You don't know what you don't know about speechwriting until you've attended one of Joan Detz's trainings or read her books. Joan's advice is brilliant, insightful, and smack-yourself-in-the-forehead "why-didn't-I-think-of-that" smart! Professional communicators around the globe turn to Joan for expert tips on producing and delivering speeches that make a difference. She has been a staple of training for the members of the National Association of Government Communicators for many years, and for good reason. Her workshops are among the most popular at our annual training events. This book is the next best thing to Joan herself, full of wonderful advice on knowing your audience, writing the speech, preparing the room, and fantastic tips for delivering the speech. I am delighted about this new anniversary edition, because my dog-eared old copy is pretty worn." -- John Verrico, President-Elect, National Association of Government Communicators

About the Author

Product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1250041074
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Griffin; Revised, Expanded edition (4 Mar. 2014)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250041074
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250041074
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14.17 x 1.69 x 20.93 cm
• 114,901 in Social Sciences (Books)

About the author

Do you think your speeches could be better? Does it take you too long to prepare for a public speaking event? Does even the thought of giving a presentation make you nervous?

You aren't alone. Most people wish they could feel more confident about their presentations. My books can help you do it.

The Washington Post praised HOW TO WRITE & GIVE A SPEECH as "a how-to classic".

In 2014, St. Martin's Press published the 30th anniversary edition of HOW TO WRITE & GIVE A SPEECH. "It's a rare distinction for any book to remain in print continuously for three decades." (Marian Calabro, CorporateHistory.net) The San Francisco Book Book Review praised this updated edition: "The writing is quick and to-the-point, easy to read and easy to apply."

Alba Editorial of Spain recently published the book's Spanish edition, Cómo escribir y pronunciar un discurso (translated by Elena Bernardo). http://tinyurl.com/nbarf2e

With any of my books, you can learn in just an hour or two what has taken me years to master. Lucky you!

The National Association of Government Communicators honored me with its President's Award. All awards are wonderful. But do you know what pleases me the most? When I meet someone who tells me, "I was always scared to give speeches. But your book helped me give the best presentation of my career."

Over the years, I've been pleased to work with many of the top names in international business and government - from Finland to Philadelphia, from Montenegro to Minnesota, from the UK to DC.

Improve your own skills right away by visiting my blog: www.joandetz.com/speechwritingblog

Want to learn more about #publicspeaking #speechwriting #presentations? I tweet often @JoanDetz

Visit my website at http://www.joandetz.com for more information.

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7 Must-Read Books To Improve Speech Writing And Public Speaking

Writing a speech is hard for most people. Speeches don’t tend to sound the way we talk. They use esoteric language, stylistic devices that only work in the context of a speech, and other quirks that you normally wouldn’t think to include.

Not all speeches call for you to go on a word blitzkrieg. You just need to understand the context of 

• who will hear it
• why you are making it
• and how to approach each scenario

This is the backbone of any good speech.

This article delves into some of the best books on speechwriting that, over time, can help augment the skills you may already have or take you from a speechwriting newbie to a guru.

Knowing how to write a speech is important because you may need this knowledge before giving a presentation in class, before some event, or before defending your dissertations. And if the best Ph.D. dissertation help service is able to help you with your dissertation writing, only you can write a speech in which your presence will be felt.

Now, let’s dive into the list!

• “Resonate” by Nancy Duarte

Duarte’s Resonate is a must-read if you want to deliver powerful presentations. In it, Duarte delves into the art of storytelling and the importance of understanding your audience and crafting a message that resonates with them.

Duarte says, “Your audience doesn’t want to hear from you, they want to hear from themselves.” To truly connect with your audience, you must tailor your message to their needs, desires, and experiences.

As she notes, regarding her concept of the ‘sparkline,’ a visual representation of your presentation’s structure, “Good design amplifies your message and helps it resonate with your audience.”

Overall, Duarte’s Resonate resonates. 

• “Talk Like TED” by Carmine Gallo

In Talk Like TED, Carmine Gallo dives into what you need to know to make a memorable and captivating presentation, based on the best TED talks we’ve ever watched. The book is the culmination of an analysis of the tips learned from great speakers like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, as well as a detailed breakdown of what made the best speeches the best.

With these lessons and time, you, too, can learn to confidently and knowledgeably deliver speeches on various occasions, whether while presenting your dissertation or during some celebration. Gallo writes, “Public speaking is a skill that can be learned, but it takes time, practice, and a willingness to take risks,” and we couldn’t agree more.

• “The Art of Public Speaking” by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein

For more than a century, Carnegie and Esenwein’s classic has been the go-to for many students of the art of public speaking. That’s right, a century! Why? Because of the third, perfect speech. What’s that, you ask?

Carnegie famously said, “There are always three speeches for everyone you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.” The book covers everything from speech preparation and delivery techniques to audience analysis and persuasive speech writing to help you deliver the perfect third speech. 

• “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

If you want to sharpen your writing skills to create more impactful speeches, look no further than The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. This timeless classic is a must-read for anyone who wants to write clear, concise, and effective prose.

The book’s emphasis on simplicity, clarity, and brevity is especially valuable for public speakers who want to communicate their ideas with precision and impact. As E.B. White puts it, “Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.”

The book elaborates; we promise.

• “The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller” by John Truby

Public speaking and speechwriting rely on understanding the central tenets of storytelling. In “The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller,” Truby breaks down what makes a great story, including theme, plot, and character, with practical exercises to allow you to take the lessons taught and apply them to your writing and presentations.

You’ll learn the importance of creating a well-rounded and compelling protagonist that the audience can connect emotionally. Truby also emphasizes the importance of conflict in driving the plot forward and keeping the audience engaged.

• “Presentation Zen” by Garr Reynolds

Do you remember the last time you were sitting in a presentation that felt like it would never end? The presenter seemed to be reading word-for-word from a bland slide deck, and your mind drifted to your to-do list.

Don’t let that happen to you! Garr Reynolds’ Presentation Zen will show you how to transform your presentations from snooze-fests to unforgettable experiences. Using simple yet powerful design principles, Reynolds teaches you how to craft compelling visual stories to engage your audience and leave a lasting impression.

With Presentation Zen as your guide, you can confidently step onto the stage and deliver presentations that will captivate your audience and make you unforgettable.

• “Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion” by Jay Heinrichs

Combining modern persuasion techniques with classical rhetoric, Jay Heinrichs takes the reader through the art of persuasion, exploring the techniques used by some of history’s most persuasive speakers, from Aristotle to Abraham Lincoln to Homer Simpson.

With humor and wit, Heinrichs breaks down the elements of persuasion into easy-to-understand concepts and provides practical tips for using them in your speeches. Whether you’re a seasoned public speaker or just starting, this book will give you the tools to craft compelling arguments, win debates, and persuade others to your point of view. Also, this book is a good source for writing dissertations for Speech Communication.

As Heinrichs says, “Arguing, when it’s done right, can be a beautiful thing.” This book will show you how to do it right.

A Boost To Help You Read These Books

Imagine this: You’re standing on a stage, a spotlight shining down on you, with a captivated audience hanging on your every word. You’ve just finished delivering a powerful, persuasive speech that has left them inspired and eager to take action. How did you get here? By reading the books we’ve discussed here.

From learning how to craft a compelling story to speaking with clarity and impact to connecting meaningfully with your audience, these books offer a wealth of knowledge and practical advice to help you become a masterful communicator.

But, let’s face it, reading a book can be challenging. That’s why you should embrace all the tools at your disposal – from books to improve study skills , audiobooks for a hands-free experience, and concise summaries that give you an overview of the book’s key insights.

So pick up a copy of one of these books and start your journey to becoming a truly impactful speaker today. The stage is waiting for you.

16 public speaking books you need to read

• James Haynes
• August 12, 2022

Table of Contents

Introduction.

Starting a speaking business is exhilarating and rewarding… and very stressful. Being a public speaker isn’t easy, and if you’re like most people you’ve probably looked for public speaking tips to help you become a better speaker.

These 16 public speaking books — now updated in 2024 with four new resources! — listed below can help you learn how to become a public speaker, how to improve your public speaking skills, and how to develop a talk for an audience. Books on public speaking are plentiful, but these ones have stood out, some over decades, as great guides and resources for your public speaking career.

Find Out Exactly How Much You Could Make As a Paid Speaker

Use The Official Speaker Fee Calculator to tell you what you should charge for your first (or next) speaking gig — virtual or in-person! 

Want to learn how to become a better public speaker? Read on for 16 public speaking books that you need to read. (Book descriptions from Amazon)

1. The Successful Speaker by Grant Baldwin (2020)

We’d be remiss not to mention this one! Do you have a message you want to get out into the world? Have you ever dreamed of speaking for a living? Is there something you have to say, but you just aren’t sure what to do next? The Successful Speaker is a proven, easy-to-follow guide to helping you do just that.

Whether you want to speak at your next board meeting or community gathering, start making some extra money on the side, or become a full-time professional speaker, Grant Baldwin knows how to get you from here to there. Why? Because he’s done it himself and has coached over 2,000 speakers.

In The Successful Speaker, you will learn the five-step road map to start and scale a speaking business from the ground up, including

– how to hone your message and know exactly who it’s for – the preparation process to help your next speech move an audience to action – what it takes to establish yourself as an in-demand expert – practical steps to finding and booking paid speaking gigs – how to know when it’s time to grow your impact and income

In each chapter, you will get specific action steps and case studies from professional speakers to put you on the fast track to booking gigs, getting paid, and building your speaking platform.

2. How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie (1976)

Drawing on Dale Carnegie’s years of experience as a business trainer, this book will show you how to overcome the natural fear of public speaking , to become a successful speaker, and even learn to enjoy it.

His invaluable advice includes ways to:

-Develop poise -Gain self-confidence -Improve your memory -Make your meaning clear -Begin and end a presentation effectively

Interested in going deeper in the mechanics of how to give a talk? Here are 25 tips to help you become a better speaker.

3. Ted Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking by Chris Anderson (2017)

Since taking over leadership of TED in 2001, Chris Anderson has worked with all the TED speakers who have inspired us the most. In this book, he shares insights from such favorites as Sir Ken Robinson, Salman Khan, Monica Lewinsky, and more— everything from how to craft your talk’s content to how you can be most effective on stage.

Want to learn more about TED Talks? Check out our blog post on how to get and give a TED Talk here!

4. How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling (2022)

Over the past twenty-five years, the directors of The Moth have worked with people from all walks of life—including astronauts, hairdressers, rock stars, a retired pickpocket, high school students, and Nobel Prize winners—to develop true personal stories that have moved and delighted live audiences and listeners of The Moth’s Peabody Award–winning radio hour and podcast. A leader in the modern storytelling movement, The Moth inspires thousands of people around the globe to share their stories each year.

Now, with  How to Tell a Story , The Moth will help you learn how to uncover and craft your own unique stories, like Moth storytellers Mike Birbiglia, Rosanne Cash, Hasan Minhaj, Betty Reid Soskin, John Turturro, and more.

Whether your goal is to make it to the Moth stage, deliver the perfect wedding toast, wow clients at a business dinner, give a moving eulogy , ace a job interview, be a hit at parties, change the world, or simply connect more deeply to those around you, stories are essential.

Wondering how do you tell stories that stick long after you’ve finished speaking? Have a listen to our podcast on how to tell stories that stick with Kindra Hall.

5. How to Win an Argument: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Persuasion by James May (2016)

6. speak with no fear by mike acker (2019).

It can easily seem like everyone is a gifted speaker when you watch TED talks or compare yourself to skilled co-workers giving presentations. But you don’t have to get caught up in the costly comparison trap. Instead, you can take action to improve your ability and to overcome your fear.

Through this book  you will learn 7 strategies  you can begin today. These strategies will give you a new perspective, they will prepare you, and they will give you actions to practice. As you implement these strategies, your fear will begin to fade.

THE SEVEN STRATEGIES 1. Uncover & Clean the Wound 2. Imagine the Worst 3. You Be You 4. Speak to One 5. It’s Not About You 6. Channel The Power 7. Be in the Moment

Are you struggling to develop a stage presence? Check out this article on how to overcome fear of public speaking.

7. Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking by Mehdi Hasan (2023)

Win Every Argument shows how anyone can communicate with confidence, rise above the tit for tats on social media, and triumph in a successful and productive debate in the real world.

Arguments are everywhere―and especially given the fierce debates we’re all embroiled in today, everyone wants to win. In this riveting guide to the art of argument and rhetoric, Hasan shows you how. As a journalist, anchor, and interviewer who has clashed with politicians, generals, spy chiefs, and celebrities from across the world, Hasan reveals his tricks of the trade for the first time.

Whether you are making a presentation at work or debating current political issues with a friend, Mehdi Hasan will teach you how to sharpen your speaking skills to make the winning case.

8. How Your Story Sets You Free by Heather Box and Julian Mocine-McQueen (2019)

Everyone has a story to tell. Sharing that story can change you, your community, or even the world. But how do you start?

Discover the tools to unlock your truth and share it with the world: Storytelling coaches Heather Box and Julian Mocine-McQueen reveal how to embrace the power of personal storytelling in a series of easy steps. You’ll learn how to share your experiences and invaluable knowledge with the people who need it most, whether it be in a blog post, a motivational speech, or just a conversation with a loved one. How Your Story Sets You Free is the path to finding the spark that ignites the fire and reminds you just how much your story matters.

Personal storytelling is insanely powerful when done well. For more tips here, check out this new podcast episode with Ravi Rajani on how to create and share powerful stories!

9. How to Speak, How to Listen by Mortimer J. Adler (1983)

With over half a million copies in print of his classic How to Read a Book  in print, intellectual, philosopher, and academic Mortimer J. Adler set out to write an accompanying volume on speaking and listening, offering the impressive depth of knowledge and accessible panache that distinguished his first book.

In  How to Speak, How to Listen , Adler explains the fundamental principles of communicating through speech, with sections on such specialized presentations as the sales talk, the lecture, and question-and-answer sessions and advice on effective listening and learning by discussion.

10. Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte (2010)

Presentations are meant to inform, inspire, and persuade audiences. So why then do so many audiences leave feeling like they’ve wasted their time? All too often, presentations don’t resonate with the audience and move them to transformative action.

Nancy Duarte created the slides in Al Gore’s Oscar winning  An Inconvenient Truth. In this book, she unpacks how to apply visual media to your talk. Her book Resonate helps you make a strong connection with your audience and lead them to purposeful action. The author’s approach is simple: building a presentation today is a bit like writing a documentary. Using this approach, you’ll convey your content with passion, persuasion, and impact.

11. The Public Speaking Bible: A Survival Guide for Standing on Stage by Marcus Alexander (2020)

The Public Speaking Bible; a Survival Guide for Standing on Stage is a depository of essential speaker’s knowledge designed to further your career whether you aim to be a full time speaker, undertake management roles or simply wish to improve your voice and stage presence. All the tips within come via the author and guest performers, adding up to a combined three hundred years of essential speakers’ know-how.

Within this bible:

Technical advice: how to effortlessly project your voice, audience manipulation, crowd control, body language, hand gestures and more.

Additionally: a frank approach for overcoming stage fright, a foolproof recipe for memorising a speech, how to overcome a sore throat and using the physics of sound to your advantage.

Business advice: how to price your speech, approaching agencies, talking overseas, understanding unique selling points, the most complete list of global public speakers’ agencies and more.

12. How To Talk To Anybody :14 Speaking Techniques To Instantly Connect With Anyone by Ryan Harrison (2022)

How many opportunities, relationships, and experiences have you missed out on because you didn’t know how to talk to people with confidence and skill?

Well, from now on, you will know exactly what to say and how to say it in a way that makes people open their eyes with surprise and delight as you talk. You’ll capture the attention of everyone you engage with. Your words will have impact and influence, and your opinion will make a difference.

The author – Ryan Harrison – has spent 30 years studying linguistics and communication and has distilled his knowledge into these 3 books.

13. Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun (2009)

In this hilarious and highly practical book, author and professional speaker Scott Berkun reveals the techniques behind what great communicators do, and shows how anyone can learn to use them well. For managers and teachers — and anyone else who talks and expects someone to listen —  Confessions of a Public Speaker  provides an insider’s perspective on how to effectively present ideas to anyone. It’s a unique, entertaining, and instructional romp through the embarrassments and triumphs Scott has experienced over 15 years of speaking to crowds of all sizes.

With lively lessons and surprising confessions, you’ll get new insights into the art of persuasion — as well as teaching, learning, and performance — directly from a master of the trade.

Highlights include:

• Berkun’s hard-won and simple philosophy , culled from years of lectures, teaching courses, and hours of appearances on NPR, MSNBC, and CNBC
• Practical advice , including how to work a tough room, the science of not boring people, how to survive the attack of the butterflies, and what to do when things go wrong
• The inside scoop  on who earns $30,000 for a one-hour lecture and why
• The worst — and funniest — disaster stories  you’ve ever heard (plus countermoves you can use)

Filled with humorous and illuminating stories of thrilling performances and real-life disasters,  Confessions of a Public Speaker is inspirational, devastatingly honest, and a blast to read.

14. Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds by Carmine Gallo (2015)

Public speaking coach and bestselling author Carmine Gallo has broken down hundreds of TED talks and interviewed the most popular TED presenters to reveal the nine secrets of all successful TED presentations. Gallo’s step-by-step method makes it possible for anyone to deliver a presentation that is engaging, persuasive, and memorable.

Many people have a fear of public speaking or are insecure about their ability to give a TED-worthy presentation. Carmine Gallo’s top 10  Wall Street Journal  Bestseller  Talk Like TED will give them the tools to communicate the ideas that matter most to them, the skill to win over hearts and minds, and the confidence to deliver the talk of their lives.

15. Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln by James Hume (2002)

Ever wish you could captivate your boardroom with the opening line of your presentation, like Winston Churchill in his most memorable speeches? Or want to command attention by looming larger than life before your audience, much like Abraham Lincoln when, standing erect and wearing a top hat, he towered over seven feet? Now, you can master presentation skills, wow your audience, and shoot up the corporate ladder by unlocking the secrets of history’s greatest speakers.

Author, historian, and world-renowned speaker James C. Humes—who wrote speeches for five American presidents—shows you how great leaders through the ages used simple yet incredibly effective tricks to speak, persuade, and win throngs of fans and followers. Inside, you’ll discover how Napoleon Bonaparte mastered the use of the pregnant pause to grab attention, how Lady Margaret Thatcher punctuated her most serious speeches with the use of subtle props, how Ronald Reagan could win even the most hostile crowd with carefully timed wit, and much, much more.

16. Unleash the Power of Storytelling: Win Hearts, Change Minds, Get Results by Rob Biesenbach (2018)

Unleash the Power of Storytelling offers a practical roadmap to crafting and delivering more powerful, persuasive stories that you can use to get more of what you want out of your career and your life.

Taking a fun, no-nonsense approach, Unleash the Power of Storytelling will teach you:

•The hard science behind why stories work •A simple three-part structure for telling any story •The role of emotion in fueling great stories •How to cut the clutter and focus your story on the essentials •How and where to find great stories •Tips for delivering your stories in the most effective way possible

Want to learn how to create your own underdog Rocky story? Have a listen to our podcast with Clint Pulver, who used his story to build powerful relationships with speakers he admires and respects, and how he created his own board of directors as a result.

Free Download: 6 Proven Steps to Book More Paid Speaking Gigs in 2024​

Download our 18-page guide and start booking more paid speaking gigs today!

Are 16 books not enough for you? Check out our podcast archive for more tips and lessons on public speaking. Still want more? Satiate your desire to learn more about public speaking by checking out The Speaker Lab blog here.  Happy reading!

• Last Updated: March 6, 2024

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How-To Geek

How chatgpt is helping me write a book.

ChatGPT can help with many things, including book writing. Here's how it's helping me plan and execute a book-writing plan.

Key Takeaways

• Writing with ChatGPT as a tool helps plot and create believable characters, but falls short on creativity.
• Combining The Hero's Journey and a step sheet helps outline chapters for a cohesive novel structure.
• Dialogue crafting with GPT enhances exchanges, providing fluidity and coherence in character interactions.

Most people get into writing because they have the dream that they're the creator of the next Great American Novel. I admit I'm one of those people. What happens when two of your hobbies, artificial intelligence tinkering and writing, overlap? You try to write a book using ChatGPT to help you, of course!

In the past, I've written a book or two , usually serialized as fiction on one social media platform or another. My folder of drafts on my cloud drive says that I have more ideas than time to finish them all. However, in this case, I have a plan, and I intend to follow through on it. The plan is thus:

• I want to write a complete novel (minimum 60,000 - 90,000 words)
• I want to have a completed first draft in ten weeks

This works out to writing around 10,000 words a week of fiction - not, by any stretch of the imagination, a simple task. But for me, that's quite doable. I can average around 2000 words of fiction in an hour's time (I type really quickly). The problem I have is with plot, continuity, and character development. So, I've decided to use GPT to help me complete my draft in 10 weeks. What better way to utilize an AI bot that has a history of thinking fiction is real ?

Step Sheets or How To Plot a Novel

Writers who don't get their ideas directly from ethereal beings are divided into two categories :

• Plotters: These have a plot outline, characters, and locations, so they can keep track of the story
• Pantsers: These write by the seat of their pants and go where their intuition takes them

For much of my early life as a writer, I was a Pantser, but I realized that being a Plotter is much better for seeing the end of a novel. Yet, even as a plotter, you have to make certain decisions about your plotting methodology. There are more than a handful of methods of plotting a good novel, and I settled on something called The Hero's Journey , a plotting methodology that reflects mythology.

Combining The Hero's Journey with something called a "step sheet" or "beat sheet," I can outline chapters and then fill them in. In the interest of avoiding spoilers (I actually want people reading my novel, after all), I'll skip the broad brush structure that GPT gave me for this novel plot. Instead, I'll give a glimpse of the first chapter's step-sheet:

Everything looks good so far!

Character Plotting: Breathing Life into Protagonists and Antagonists

In writing, there are several types of characters . Protagonists are the main characters or the ones the story follows. In my case, my protagonist is a young female detective who's just gotten a chance to prove herself. Antagonists are the people the protagonist is pitted against. In this case, I have one major antagonist (who I won't mention just yet) and a few supporting characters that could fall on either side of the conflict. However, when creating complex characters like these, I typically need a character outline. What better way to design a new character than asking GPT?

Character sketches can get complicated, and this one gives me a rundown on several character traits, including:

• Physical Description
• Tone of Voice
• Speech Pattern
• Relationship with other Characters

And a lot more! However, these are necessary since I'm going to ask GPT to role-play as these characters, and GPT needs those things to figure out how those characters would think and act. However, before GPT gets to role-play, we have to build the world in which the story is set.

Introducing Venus In The Near-Future

I generated the image above using a description provided by ChatGPT. Immediately, readers will realize that I'm writing a Sci-Fi novel. I've actually used GPT to generate things like background pictures and pictures of my protagonist and supporting characters, as well.

I'm not planning on including these in my final book, but since I'm posting a chapter a week on a free Patreon for people who are interested in keeping up with it, I'm using these as visual cues for my readers to have an idea of the places and people that I'm writing about.

That said, GPT is amazing at coming up with factions, interactions, and creating a believable world for these people to exist in. For example:

Dialogue Crafting: Bringing Characters to Life

One of the make-or-break elements of a novel is its dialogue. In the past, people have used GPT to practice languages conversationally , and this is just taking that to a new level. I've used ChatGPT to help me enhance that as well. For example, this is what one of the dialogue exchanges in my early chapters looks like:

I achieved this by asking GPT to role-play Autumn, and then taking the persona of Yoshida, as I understood him, to do the other side of the exchange. It seems like a very simple exchange, but it's fluid and there are no strange segues or tangents that might have otherwise affected my work. I'm quite happy with how this turned out.

Throughout the novel, I use GPT to help me come up with dialogue that's not only believable but fits the persona of the character. It's much easier talking to "someone" else than trying to come up with both sides of dialogue for a scene.

It's a Good Helper, But It's Terrible At Writing

ChatGPT is one of the best writing assistants I've ever had. It remembers things I forget, and it reminds me when things are not the way they should be. However, I and every other writer on the planet have something it doesn't - creativity. As an AI assistant, it can help me come up with ideas, plot factions, characters and even the whole novel. But it's rubbish at writing.

I asked it to pen a chapter for me, and it was painful to read. It had no idea about pacing, rushing through as much of the plot as it could get through in one chapter. It's great at efficiency. It's not so great with creativity. It might be able to give you a generic short story, but the longer the text, the more confused it gets - as if it needs its own AI assistant to help keep it straight.

All things considered, ChatGPT can speed up my writing because I have to spend less time plotting. So far I've completed nine chapters (around 32,000 words) of this novel and I intend to hit that 10-week window. For those that are interested in reading the work, you can check it out here (its free and chapters are released every Wednesday). You can judge for yourself whether ChatGPT is as good at plotting and narrative structure as a human. I think it's good for plotting, but writing remains the realm of the wordsmith.

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Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker at a Super Bowl press conference Feb. 6, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP)

Chiefs’ Harrison Butker criticized for graduation speech, but this quote came from satirical account

If your time is short.

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker drew widespread criticism for his Benedictine College commencement address in which he urged women to become homemakers.

But this quote defending his speech is not real. It came from a satirical Instagram account.

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker kicked a hornet’s nest at a commencement speech at a Catholic college in which he told women graduates that most of them are probably more excited about marriage and motherhood than their careers.

The speech, although praised by some Catholics, garnered widespread criticism. On social media, one person said Butker later made things worse while trying to defend the speech.

A May 16 Threads post shared a quote purportedly by Butker on "setting the record straight."

"Everyone is taking what I said out of context," the quote read. "All I said was that we should go back to a better time, like the 50’s & 60s. When men were men, and women had more babies than thoughts. When the only ‘Me Too’ movement was one woman saying she was ready for her 4th child, and another woman agreeing."

We found other social media posts sharing the same quote .

The post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta , which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

Featured Fact-check

Butker faced significant social media backlash   for his May 11 speech at Benedictine College in Kansas. During his remarks , he also criticized Pride Month and President Joe Biden . 

The National Football League distanced itself from the kicker’s speech in a statement to People , saying it was given in a "personal capacity" and that "his views are not those of the NFL as an organization." A Change.org petition demanding the Super Bowl champion Chiefs release Butker had more than 180,000 signatures as of May 17. And Chiefs’ division rival the Los Angeles Chargers mocked him in a video , showing an animated version of Butker toiling in a kitchen.

But did Butker really double down on his speech by making the statement shared in the Threads post? No, the quote is not real. It originated as a meme on a satirical Instagram account, thesportsmemery , which calls itself "The Fakest Fake News on the Internets" and "Original Memes / Satire / Parody."

(Threads screenshot)

The account shared an image of the fake quote in a May 15 post , adding a caption that said, "Harrison Butker sets the record straight after the biased media twisted his words using unfair verbatim quotes of things he said."

The Threads post did not include the context that it originated on a satirical site and presented it as a real quote. It is not. The claim is False.

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Threads post , May 16, 2024

Thesportsmemery, Instagram post , May 15, 2024

Thesportsmemery, Instagram profile page , accessed May 16, 2024

Benedictine College, Harrison Butker | Commencement Address 2024 | Benedictine College , May 11, 2024

National Catholic Register, Full Text: Harrison Butker of Kansas City Chiefs Graduation Speech , May 16, 2024

People, NFL Says They Do Not Agree with Harrison Butker's 'Views' in Graduation Speech, Are Committed to 'Inclusion' , May 16, 2024

Los Angeles Chargers, X post , May 15, 2024

Change.org, Demand the Kansas City Chiefs to Dismiss Harrison Butker for Discriminatory Remarks , accessed May 16, 2024

The Athletic, ​​ Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker says Pride Month is example of ‘deadly sin’ during commencement speech , May 14, 2024

The Hill, Kansas City Chiefs kicker blasts Biden, pro-choice movement in commencement speech  , May 13, 2024

Fox News, Harrison Butker's commencement speech 'showed courage and commitment,' Lou Holtz says , May 17, 2024

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Greg Iles almost died writing his latest book: ‘This might be the last thing I ever do’

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On the Shelf

Southern Man

By Greg Iles William Morrow & Company: 976 pages, $36 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org , whose fees support independent bookstores

Penn Cage leads a dramatic life — he’s a Houston prosecutor turned novelist turned mayor of his hometown of Natchez, Miss.

When his father, a beloved local doctor, was charged with murdering his former nurse — who was his long-ago lover — and went on the run, Cage dug for the truth, finding links to 1960s lynchings by a vicious KKK offshoot and to contemporary corruption and racism. Cage ultimately went outside the law to destroy the criminals; his fiancée and others were killed along the way.

More recently, while Cage was living in nearby Bienville, his daughter was shot and wounded during a rap concert and soon after, the mayor, who was Black, gay and relatively progressive, was murdered in cold blood. As racial tensions consumed the town, an ambitious war hero turned radio host named Robert E. Lee White caught Cage’s attention as he tried to capitalize on the chaotic situation. Again, Cage survived shootouts and broke the law for the sake of justice.

Cage’s saga exists only in Greg Iles’ bestselling books, most famously his 2,300-page “Natchez Burning” trilogy and now his latest, “Southern Man,” which runs nearly a thousand pages itself. They’re thrillers with the stakes raised by Iles’ exploration of the racism that has long ruled the South and haunted the nation.

But Iles’ own life story is novel-worthy. It’s an epic with twists and turns and his own brushes with death.

After nearly a decade playing guitar in the band Frankly Scarlet, Iles turned to fiction, finding success in the 1990s with a pair of World War II thrillers. Then, at 36, a routine exam left him staring death in the face. He had myeloma, at the time a “rapid death sentence,” he explained in a video interview from his Natchez home.

Iles was asymptomatic and the rare patient for whom the disease “smoldered” for decades. Living with the disease and keeping it secret to protect his career “was like walking in permanent shadow, with the hawk of mortality hovering over your shoulder day and night.”

He turned down opportunities, prioritizing for his family the financial security of his proven career. “The cancer affected every decision I made,” he says. “I wrote more commercial books than I would have and wrote much faster than I might have otherwise.”

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Iles’ life changed again during “Natchez Burning.”

He’d written about Natchez in “The Quiet Game” in 1999, but looked back with “regrets,” having fallen victim to the nostalgic blinders of many white Southern writers. “I’m embarrassed by my view of the world then,” he confesses.

Reading the investigative journalism of Stanley Nelson, editor of the Concordia Sentinel in nearby Ferriday, La., Iles learned about the lynchings that happened in and around Natchez in the 1960s.

Nelson drove Iles around the region, sharing research and stories. “Greg took the issues and did a masterful job of exploring attitudes about race in his fiction with characters that can emotionally draw people in and get them to understand,” said Nelson, who was immortalized as reporter Henry Sexton in “Natchez Burning.”

Indeed, Iles says he uses his genre skills for a cause. “I’m writing for a white audience about a subject most would prefer not to think about but they can be seduced into reading a thriller,” he says.

Scott Turow, who became friends with Iles while performing in the Rock Bottom Remainders, their band that also features authors including Dave Barry, Amy Tan and Stephen King, says Iles reminds him of King for “his ability to turn serious matter into popular fiction.”

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April 1, 2024

The frankness and intensity in Iles’ books are essential to his personality too, Turow adds. Iles is charming and affable, a natural storyteller with a reflective side. But he grows impassioned while recounting the creation of the trilogy.

The more he learned about those real-life cold cases and the surviving killers, the more he wrote. Finally, he told his publisher this story needed three books. The answer was no. One day in 2011, Iles was driving while contemplating this conundrum.

Then everything went black.

After eight days in a medically induced coma, Iles awoke to learn a truck had hit his car. “I was missing my right leg below the knee, had a patched aorta and more broken bones than I can remember.”

This brush with mortality — a year after the death of his father, who was a doctor whom he admired greatly — made Iles determined to honor his personal vision. He again told his publisher he needed a trilogy, period.

The publishing house walked away, leaving him with “frightening” debt. He soon landed a new deal with HarperCollins and wrote relentlessly while recovering. When “in the flow,” Iles writes for 16, 24 or even 30-hour stretches. While going hard and fast, he also is “granular,” blending historical facts, people and places with fictional ones.

His instincts were spot on. The three books, released in 2014, 2015 and 2017, climbed bestseller lists. Still, he says, there was always backlash from some white readers. He expects even more for “Southern Man,” which was fueled by his outrage at the “the animus that Donald Trump released.”

He was so angry that the first draft of “Southern Man” was “virtually unreadable.” Upon stumbling on King’s “The Dead Zone” on TV, he had an epiphany: his novel needed a character like King’s Greg Stillson, a dangerously populist politician. So Iles introduced Robert E. Lee White as a “dark mirror of Penn Cage,” a conservative, but pro-choice and anti-Trump, third-party candidate for 2024.

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Here are 20 upcoming books — publishing between late May and August — that we recommend to kick off the summer reading season.

May 15, 2024

White is more complex than Iles’ earlier antagonists, unnervingly confident in his own vision and in his belief that he can manipulate the public and boost his campaign without losing control of events.

But as Iles resumed writing, a new bombshell landed. The myeloma had “switched on” and his future was suddenly and immediately imperiled. Although his mother had just died in October 2020 from the same cancer, science had progressed tremendously since his original diagnosis, and he immediately began chemotherapy en route to a stem cell transplant.

Unsurprisingly, he couldn’t stop writing. “I couldn’t bear to go into such serious treatment and possibly never finish,” he admits. Chemotherapy kept him alive as he completed the novel and prepared for the stem cell treatment. Thinking he’d be done within two months, he says, “I worked harder than ever before.”

Instead, the book took two more years. That’s partly because writing Iles-style — those 20-hour marathons — during chemo nearly killed him. “I was hospitalized three separate times for extensive periods,” he says, and constantly battled chemo “brain fog.”

The process, and the book, ran so long because Iles understood “this might be the last thing I ever do” and because he saw America as equally endangered, he wanted to commit everything on his mind to the page.

Iles poured more of himself into Cage: his protagonist lost part of a leg in a similar car wreck and was now battling myeloma. In real life, treatment has left Iles diabetic and 40 pounds overweight. His chemo stopped working but his doctor found a successful new drug combination and he’s awaiting a stem cell transplant. “I’m hopeful and optimistic,” he says.

‘Harry Potter’ set at an HBCU? LaDarrion Williams wrote the book he always wanted to read

‘Blood at the Root,’ LaDarrion Williams’ first novel in a three-book deal — a series that centers on a Black boy in a YA fantasy saga — is the kind of fiction he wishes existed when he was a kid.

May 3, 2024

His optimism doesn’t extend to American society. While writing he realized many white Americans only want the democracy they grew up with, “where they sat atop the pyramid,” he says. “Otherwise, they’ll exchange democracy for autocracy in a flash.”

He worries that, as in the novel, white fear and panic puts us “on a ticking clock to real violence between now and November.”

Iles hopes the novel helps people move beyond William Faulkner’s notion that “the past is never dead.” “It’s incumbent upon us to outgrow and to transcend the past,” he says.

In “Southern Man” he gives Black characters more “page time.” The trilogy lacked significant Black characters until the third book, in part because he was focused on prying open white readers’ eyes but also because “I knew I had nothing to teach Black readers” about racism.

He remains wary of presuming to write from a Black person’s perspective, but “Southern Man” has three Black characters playing crucial roles; they even call out Cage on the limits of his understanding and allyship. He hopes their addition helps shape readers’ reactions.

“If I can make white readers see America — even a little bit — through a Black character’s eyes, we have a better chance of finding common ground,” Iles says.

More to Read

Paul Auster, postmodern author behind ‘The New York Trilogy’ and ‘Smoke,’ dies at 77

May 1, 2024

Los Angeles’ mass uprisings in search of Black justice have punctuated my life, and my library

April 17, 2024

‘Alienist’ author Caleb Carr — grieving his late cat — reflects on his life amid battle with cancer

April 15, 2024

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Stefanik to Denounce Biden, and Praise Trump, in Speech to Israeli Lawmakers

The New York congresswoman will become the highest-ranking House Republican to speak at Israel’s Parliament since the Oct. 7 attacks, in a move meant to capitalize on Democratic divisions.

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By Michael C. Bender and Annie Karni

• Published May 18, 2024 Updated May 20, 2024

May 19 update: Representative Elise Stefanik addressed some Israeli lawmakers at Parliament.

Representative Elise Stefanik of New York will be the highest-ranking House Republican to address lawmakers at Israel’s Parliament since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack with a speech on Sunday that is expected to deliver a forceful rebuke of President Biden and his fellow Democrats while presenting her party as the true allies of the Jewish state.

Ms. Stefanik’s speech comes as the Biden White House is urging Israel to end the war in Gaza, and it builds on the Republican political strategy to capitalize on Democratic divisions over Israel’s response to the terrorist attacks.

That strategy, which has played out in Congress for the past six months, has included a largely symbolic House vote on Thursday aimed at rebuking Mr. Biden for pausing an arms shipment to Israel and compelling his administration to deliver those weapons quickly.

Mr. Biden recently put a hold on military aid out of concern that Israel would use the weapons on Rafah, a crowded city in southern Gaza. The administration has also told Congress that it plans to sell more than $1 billion in new weapons to Israel.

“I have been clear at home, and I will be clear here,” Ms. Stefanik is expected to say in her speech, according to a prepared version of her remarks reviewed by The New York Times. “There is no excuse for an American president to block aid to Israel.”

Her remarks also appear designed to curry favor with former President Donald J. Trump, who has mentioned Ms. Stefanik, a former George W. Bush White House aide and staunch defender of Mr. Trump, as a potential vice-presidential candidate.

While a time-honored adage of American politics has held that partisanship ends at the water’s edge , Ms. Stefanik’s remarks may help strengthen her bona fides with the former president by paying little mind to the principle and decorum behind that unwritten rule.

Ms. Stefanik has positioned herself as one of Mr. Trump’s most loyal defenders in Congress, a role she first staked out during his first impeachment in 2019. Her prepared remarks for Sunday mention Mr. Trump by name three times while highlighting several of his administration’s accomplishments, including a package of Middle East deals known as the Abraham Accords and moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

“We must not let the extremism in elite corners conceal the deep, abiding love for Israel among the American people,” Ms. Stefanik plans to say. “Americans feel a strong connection to your people. They have opened their hearts to you in this dark hour.”

In addition to her remarks at Jerusalem Hall in the Knesset, Ms. Stefanik will meet with Israeli officials, visit religious sites and tour locations targeted in the Oct. 7 attacks.

Ms. Stefanik has played a high-profile role in the congressional investigations into antisemitism on college campuses. Her questioning of the Harvard and University of Pennsylvania presidents ultimately led to their resignations, delivering to Ms. Stefanik her biggest star turn this Congress.

An earlier version of this article referred imprecisely to Representative Elise Stefanik’s planned speech in Israel. She did not ultimately speak to the country’s Parliament; she spoke to a group of Israeli lawmakers at the Parliament building. 

How we handle corrections

Michael C. Bender is a Times political correspondent covering Donald J. Trump, the Make America Great Again movement and other federal and state elections. More about Michael C. Bender

Annie Karni is a congressional correspondent for The Times. She writes features and profiles, with a recent focus on House Republican leadership. More about Annie Karni

Our Coverage of the Israel-Hamas War

News and Analysis

Spain, Norway and Ireland said that they would recognize an independent Palestinian state , delivering a diplomatic blow to Israel that showed the country’s growing isolation.

While the decision by Spain, Norway and Ireland to recognize an independent Palestinian state reflects growing exasperation with Israel , it does not make it inevitable that other larger European states will follow suit .

The decision by the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor to publicly seek arrest warrants for the leaders of Hamas and Israel will be one of the most significant and contentious of his career .

Amal Clooney Weighs In: The prominent human rights lawyer was on a panel that recommended arrest warrants  for leaders of Israel and Hamas. She had been criticized earlier for not speaking out on the war.

Demanding New Leadership: Some reservists in the Israel Defense Forces, who have returned home from war, have joined the growing calls within Israel  for Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition to step aside.

Gaza’s Wartime Economy: In the seven months since Israel started bombarding Gaza, the enclave’s economy has been crushed. In its place, a marketplace of survival has arisen focused on the basics .

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Interview highlights

Stephen king's new story took him 45 years to write.

Mary Louise Kelly

Courtney Dorning

Stephen King says finishing one of his stories decades after he started it felt like "calling into a canyon of time." Francois Mori/AP hide caption

Stephen King says finishing one of his stories decades after he started it felt like "calling into a canyon of time."

Stephen King is out with a new collection of short stories.

As you might expect from the reigning King of Horror, some are terrifying. Some are creepy. Others are laugh-out-loud funny. And one of them took him 45 years to write.

The book is a collection of 12 stories, called You Like it Darker .

Stephen King's legacy of horror

Over the course of his decades-long career as a writer, King has learned there's no taking a story too far.

"I found out – to sort of my delight and sort of my horror – that you can't really gross out the American public," King told NPR.

He spoke with All Things Considered host Mary Louise Kelly about the book, destiny and getting older.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Mary Louise Kelly: I want to start by asking you about the story, The Answer Man . You began it when you were 30. You finished it when you were 75. What the heck happened?

Stephen King: Well, I lost it. What happens with me is I will write stories and they don't always get done. And the ones that don't get done go in a drawer and I forget all about them. And about five years ago, these people started to collect all the stuff that was finished and all this stuff that was unfinished and put it in an archive. They were going through everything – desk drawers, wastebaskets underneath the desk, every place. I'm not exactly a very organized person. My nephew John Leonard found this particular story, which was written in the U.N. Plaza Hotel back in the '70s, I think. And he said, "You know, this is pretty good. You really ought to finish this." And I read it and I said, "You know, I think I know how to finish it now." So I did.

Kelly: Well give people a taste. The first six or so pages that you had written back in the hotel, it becomes a 50-page story. What was it that you decided was worth returning to?

King: Well, I like the concept: This young man is driving along, and he's trying to figure out whether or not he should join his parents' white shoe law firm in Boston, or whether he should strike out on his own. And he finds this man on the road who calls himself the Answer Man. And he says, "I will answer three of your questions for $25, and you have 5 minutes to ask these questions." So I thought to myself, I'm going to write this story in three acts. One while the questioner is young, and one when he's middle aged, and one when he's old. The question that I ask myself is: "Do you want to know what happens in the future or not?"

Kelly: This story, like many of your stories, is about destiny – whether some things are meant to happen no matter what we do, no matter what choices we make. Do you believe that's true?

King: The answer is I don't know. When I write stories, I write to find out what I really think. And I don't think there's any real answer to that question.

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'carrie' turns 50 here are the best stephen king novels — chosen by you.

Kelly: You do describe in the afterword of the book that going back in your seventies to complete a story you had begun as a young man gave you, and I'll quote your words, "The oddest sense of calling into a canyon of time." Can you explain what that means?

King: Well, you listen for the echo to come back. When I was a young man, I had a young man's ideas about The Answer Man . But now, as a man who has reached, let us say, a certain age, I'm forced to write from experience and just an idea of what it might be like to be an old man. So yeah, it felt to me like yelling and then waiting for the echo to come back all these years later.

Kelly: Are there subjects you shy away from, where you think about it and think, "You know what, that might be one step too creepy, too weird?"

King: I had one novel called Pet Cemetery that I wrote and put in a drawer because I thought, "Nobody will want to read this. This is just too awful." I wanted to write it to see what would happen, but I didn't think I would publish it. And I got into a contractual bind, and I needed to do a book with my old company. And so I did. And I found out – sort of to my delight and sort of to my horror – that you can't really gross out the American public. You can't go too far.

Kelly: It was a huge bestseller, as I recall.

King: Yeah, it's a bestseller and it was a movie. And yeah, the same thing is true with It , about the killer clown who preys on children

Kelly: Who still haunts my nightmares, I have to tell you. You've written how many books at this point?

King: I don't know.

King: Really? In our recent coverage of you, we've said everything from 50 to 70.

King: I think it's probably around 70, but I don't keep any count. I remember thinking as a kid that it would be a really fine lifetime to be able to write 100 novels.

Kelly: Oh my gosh. Well you sound like you're still having a lot of fun, so I hope you have quite a few more novels for us to come.

King: That'd be good.

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